"River Man" is a song by Nick Drake, who wrote both the music and the lyrics. It appeared on his debut album, Five Leaves Left, released in 1969 by Island Records in the UK and Elektra in the US. The song is written in 5/4 time and is one of the few Drake songs composed for standard tuning. Drake sings and plays acoustic guitar, with Danny Thompson on double bass and a string arrangement by Harry Robinson, who was asked to make the strings sound like Frederick Delius. Drake regarded it as the centrepiece of the album.
Joe Boyd speculated that the composition was influenced by João Gilberto, while Ian MacDonald suggested that its rhythm grew from Dave Brubeck's "Take Five". Drake recorded the song for the BBC's Peel Sessions on 5 August 1969. A remastered version was issued in 2004 as a 7-inch vinyl and enhanced CD single, with a music video by Tim Pope and "Day Is Done" on the B-side. The song has since been covered by many artists.
