4:16
The River In Reverse, 2006
Written by Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint
A slowburn piano ballad. Playing on "Auld Lang Syne" ("We raise our glasses and we cheer / Should old acquaintance disappear") and invoking religious imagery ("Archangel Michael will lead the way / Archangel Gabriel is ready to play / Although we know we must repent / We hit the scene and look for sins that haven't even been invented"), Costello sings a dullard's plea earnestly over Toussaint's piano. As the song builds to a close, drums, organ and sax strike up a New Orleans ragtime tune, bringing a bit of needed liveliness into it.