On March 17 of 1993, Johnny Depp and musician Gibby Haynes appeared at the Austin, Texas Music Festival with their newly formed band named “P.” With Depp on bass guitar and Haynes on lead vocals, they debuted with a song titled, Michael Stipe, in which River Phoenix’s name is mentioned. In fact, it was this song that they were playing on stage at the Viper Room at the exact moment River was dying. To quote Gibby Haynes:
“We were playing a song and River Phoenix was right down in front of me, to the left. We started the song “Michael Stipe” and it’s got River’s name in it, so it was going to be cool, he’s a friend of mine and he’d never heard the song. So we were singing up on stage, ‘Him and River Phoenix were…’ And right at that moment, he was basically on the sidewalk. I saw him right at the beginning of the song, then I didn’t see River anymore.”
The original lyrics are posted below:
I finally talked to Michael Stipe, he touched me on my arm. I met him up in the Hollywood Hills, among the movie and TV stars. I’m glad I met old Michael Stipe, I didn’t get to see his car, him and River Phoenix were leaving on the road tomorrow, and I tonight. Michael Stipe cried tonight. Then I met old Michael Stipe, I met the girl in his video too. Sophia Coppola looked at me, I didn’t know what the hell to do. I’m glad I met old Michael that day up the Laurel Canyon way. Neil said it was full of famous stars, hell I was driving Johnny Depp’s car. Michael Stipe and I, tonight. Michael Stipe. We said goodbye to John Frusciante at his Chateau Marmont suites, but we couldn’t find a part not a piece of our heart, not Michael, River Phoenix or Flea or me. I guess I’ll go back to Texas soon, leave these Hollywood Hills, cuz I’ll shoot myself dead with a gun in my head cuz that’s what this town would have me to do.
And so, we have an admission of Michael Stipe being a part of this thing, this grand conspiracy that ensnared River, as well as the concept of driving someone else’s car, or more to the point, their brain. The line “him and River Phoenix were leaving on the road tomorrow” exemplifies the concepts put forth here. The point of the song, it would seem, was to reroute River’s brain — it had the opposite effect.
In February of 1993, River signed his Last Will and Testament. A few months later in June of ’93, he officially changed his last name from Bottom (his father’s real last name) to Phoenix on his birth certificate. In September of ’93, he flew out to the Utah desert to begin filming the unfinished film, Dark Blood.
River’s character is simply referred to as “Boy” in the film, a young widower who lives alone in the desert waiting for the world to end. He rescues a Hollywood couple, Harry and Buffy, when their Bentley breaks down and are in dire need of water. Things quickly turn sour between the trio, and in the end, Harry kills Boy with an ax to the head.
In a way, the film seems to lead back to Stand by Me. River’s characters both die in the films (the only two in his career), and the fact that he’s called “Boy” is also reminiscent of Chris Chambers when River was literally a boy. In terms of the mark or the word written in his flesh, Boy would, again, refer to the Blue Point in Stand by Me. And so, once again, the end meets the beginning.
When Boy is hit in the head with an ax at the end of the film, the wound is also reminiscent of the wound Ray Brower sustained after getting hit by a train. Both have a similar haircut and both are wearing plaid shirts.
In another scene, Boy is again hit in the head by Harry (before the axing) and resembles Ray Brower with his mouth halfway open and his eyes somewhat crossed.
Harry stands over him along with his black dog who follows him around like a shadow throughout the film. The dog, in fact, represents his shadow or the word written in his flesh.
"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly." (Proverbs 26:11 KJV)
In one scene, pornographic pictures of women are seen hanging up directly over the dog’s bed in Boy’s house, one of which is Buffy (Harry’s girlfriend). So, we have the dying god (Buffy) and the black dog (the word) coming together during fornication, namely, masturbation, which is the process by which victims/initiates connect to the dying/golden gods. Boy, then, represents that starting point.
The character named “Harry” brings us back to the Back Harlow Road in Stand By Me. Harry is the one who kills Boy in Dark Blood, and in Stand By Me, the body of Ray Brower is found off the Back Harlow Road. Bringing these two names together, a quick Google search for “Harry Harlow” pulls up a psychologist (a very cruel one at that) who was born on Halloween, October 31, 1905. The years between 1905 and 1993 are a total of 88. Therefore, “Harry Harlow” brings us back to Stand By Me. The letter “H” is the eighth letter in the alphabet, so the initials HH also equal 88 — the speed limit needed to travel back in time.
In the above photo, Harry and Boy are out hunting. Boy shoots and kills a sidewinder (the terminology used in the film) and hangs it on a wooden pole. This is symbolic of Moses being told by God in Numbers 21 to set a fiery serpent upon a pole for the sins of the Jews. Everyone that looked upon it shall live, which is a picture of Jesus Christ on the cross. In Dark Blood, it is a picture of the hanged man with River in a blue-gene shirt representing prophecy. He is, essentially, the sacrifice.
Harry, while holding a shotgun under his arm, pulls out a cigarette from a gold cigarette case representing that he is the golden god or the mark of the beast, i.e., “Hairy.” We can also think of him as Michael Stipe, who, with the release of Out of Time and Automatic for the People, went on to acquire a tremendous amount of gold. He was, essentially, the winner of this extremely sick game. He was the one holding the shotgun.
While the two are out hunting, Harry (speaking of himself) tells Boy that he’s a pretty good shot, especially at “the art of bunny” to which Boy replies, “Yeah, bunny, I like that.” He then tells Boy, “I guess you’ll learn the deepest wounds are self-inflicted.”
The “art of bunny” can be interpreted as “Setec Astronomy” or the subliminal messaging (the bunnies) found in River’s films for which the golden gods are responsible. The deeper meaning is that it’s Alice’s fault (the “A”) or River’s fault for chasing the white rabbit to begin with. The wound is self-inflicted as prophecy unfolds and the word in the flesh transcribed into reality. In Michael Stipe’s case, the “art of bunny” would be deciphering the word of prophecy and turning it into art, as was the case with his lyrics and videos.
After knocking Boy out, Harry and Buffy steal his truck in an attempt to escape. In the above screenshot, a Playboy Bunny sticker is seen on the rear-view-mirror next to Buffy’s head. This symbolizes that she is the dying god to whom Michael Stipe is connected.
A gold watch is seen dangling from the sun visor above Harry’s head. Again, he is the golden god, the time-keeper, and the mark of the beast. Both he and Buffy embrace hands signifying the threefold cord – the golden god (Harry), the dying god (Buffy), and Boy, the initiate whose truck (or more to the point, whose mind, body and soul) they are driving.
As art now imitates life, this would represent Michael Stipe reconnecting with the dying god and driving River’s prophecy home. He is the author and finisher of River’s fate and the holder of the tick tock clock.
In another scene, Boy takes Buffy to a cave that he’s turned into a fallout shelter. Decorated with a pyramid of kachina dolls (spirit beings) that Boy refers to as his friends (the children), the cave also contains books on shelves that are bound with rope and illuminated by white candles. Here, we have the symbolism behind the dying gods (below) and the golden gods (above) like the flame of a candle, like phosphorus.
A silhouette of Buffy is seen standing in front of the pyramid of dolls. Like Buffy, the kachina dolls represent the dying gods linked together in a pyramid, each one supporting the next, each one bringing with it another, and another, and another, until the supporting beam (River) collapses under the weight. The big blue kachina represents the father of these lost souls, the offspring of the giants, or the satyr seen on the tree in Stand by Me.
The books bound by rope symbolize the binding word in the flesh. The candles represent the dying/golden god.
The book titles are also quite telling. In the top left we see one book about psychology, and below that (just below the candle) is a book titled “Sexercises.” In the top right is a book titled “Living with Chronic Illness,” and in the bottom right corner, a book titled “Lessons in Truth” with a big orange arrow on the cover. This book, written in 1896 by Harriet Emilie Cady, is considered one of the core texts on Unity Church teachings. The Unity Church is symbolic of the dying gods unified together by the binding unclean spirit.
The last book shown in the sequence contains an image of a man that bears quite a resemblance to Boy. The candle burns green, or emerald, signifying present time. Notice also the circle around the man’s head.
Another book reads “Water Music” and next to that one is a book titled, “Jazz.” Jazz music, along with Blues and Rock-n-Roll, is famous for using the triton (also known as the devil’s interval) which contains three adjacent whole tones. The triton is symbolic of the two initiates and the dying god being tied together as one.
The film ends with Boy’s house set on fire, his dead body placed inside, and the Hollywood couple driving away in their restored Bentley. Here, we have River’s death outside of the Viper Room and Michael Stipe driving away with the dying god.
On the last day of filming on Saturday, October 30, the light from the golden gods illuminated River’s fate for the last time. When the director yelled “wrap,” Cameraman Ed Lachman reportedly forgot to shut off the camera.
“For ten seconds River was in front of the camera. Just a silhouette lit by ambient light.”
Ed Lachman
After seeing the footage, Director George Sluizer also commented,
“It was creepy. You could see River walking away into the darkness for maybe a whole minute before he finally disappeared.”
A few hours later, shortly after arriving at the Viper Room, life would imitate art one last time as River stumbled outside and disappeared into the darkness.
The Last Night in Question
According to the autopsy report, River ingested 8x’s the lethal amount of cocaine and 4x’s the lethal amount of heroin – an absurd amount of drugs. Given everything presented here, are we really to believe that River threw caution to the wind that night and went on a wild drug binge? When researched, his last night alive reads like a Scooby-Doo ending. Depending on the narrator, each version is different.
“Acting is like putting on a Halloween mask.”
River Phoenix
Accounts of that last night are contradictory before River even reached the club. His younger sister Rain and brother Joaquin flew in to join him at the Hotel Nikko that night along with girlfriend, Samantha Mathis. Although some versions have him partying in the hotel room snorting cocaine, smoking weed, drinking champagne and dancing by himself in the middle of the room, his brother denies the allegations:
“I’ve heard stuff about how the night River died he was partying and all that, it’s so untrue. That night we were together. He was just playing guitar. He wanted to show me a new song, and… I wanted to go out to see Flea play, because I’d never seen him play before. River wanted to go home, just hang out, play guitar. I was the one who wanted to go out, and he was just making sure to take care of me, but some guy who claims he was best friends with River comes out, I don’t know who the f*ck he is, neither does anyone else, claiming all this bullsh*t. That is why I’ve been reluctant to share anything.”
Joaquin Phoenix, Movieline Magazine
During an interview with author Gavin Edwards (Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix), William Richert gave his account of what Mathis told him back in 1993. According to Richert, Mathis also claimed that River didn’t want to go that night and had offered to take his brother and sister for him since Joaquin was still underage. River then changed his mind at the last minute and ran to meet them at the elevator. Family friend, Abby Rude, was also at the hotel that night though he did not go with the others to the club. Before leaving, River reportedly turned to say something to him, and although Rude failed to mention what he actually said, he recalled that,
“I saw something in his eyes that I’d never seen before. He had this intense look in his eyes…it was the last time I ever saw him alive.”
Abby Rude
River and his entourage then left the hotel. Piling into a limo, they arrived at actor Jason London’s house in the Hollywood Hills for a Halloween party. Leonardo DiCaprio was also at that party and, in later interviews, recalled seeing River and described him as “looking really pale” although separate accounts report that he’d been wearing a Halloween mask. The group then left the party and arrived at the Viper Room around midnight. According to Richert, after reaching the club, Mathis said that guitarist John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) approached their table and offered River a plastic blue cup telling him, “Drink this, it’ll make you feel fabulous.” River reportedly drank it down and suffered an immediate reaction. His neck bulged and his back twitched as he complained, “something’s wrong.” He then vomited at the table and asked to be taken outside. Richert went on to say that Mathis later changed her story.
In 1994, director Peter Bogdanovich (The Thing Called Love) gave an interview stating that Mathis had told him that after they arrived, River went outside with Frusciante. Mathis later went outside to check on him, saw they were having a heated discussion, and went back inside. When she saw him again he had a drink in his hand and fell sick shortly after.
According to Bob Forrest (Singer for Thelonious Monster and star of Celebrity Rehab), River and Frusciante arrived together at the Viper Room and instantly began passing around cocaine. In his memoir, Running with Monsters (released on the 20th anniversary of River’s death in October of 2013), he claims that, at one point, River tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Bob, I don’t feel so good, I think I’m OD’ing.” A few minutes later, however, he seemed to be okay.
Nowadays, the majority of media sources go with the disgruntled musician theory which goes something like this: River showed up with his guitar that night but was told by Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) that he wouldn’t be able to join them on stage. Upset, River went to the bathroom with either John Frusciante or one of his drug friends, and snorted some high-grade Persian Brown heroin. He immediately suffered a reaction and shouted something like, “What the f*ck is this?” Someone gave him a Valium to calm him down and then River stumbled around for a little while longer, threw up on himself at the table, and was finally taken outside.
Once outside, River reportedly fell face first on the sidewalk where he suffered violent convulsions for nearly ten minutes. Joaquin ran to a pay phone across the street where he made the now infamous 911 call as onlookers crowded the scene. Photographer Ron Davis (who did not take pictures) described the scene that played out before him:
“He was like a fish out of water, flapping around the sidewalk like a guppy. It was almost like his body was possessed.”
The seizures reportedly came in waves, each one lasting fifteen to twenty seconds followed by a terrible silence. By the time the paramedics arrived, River’s heart was at a flat line. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1:51 am Pacific Time. All possible witnesses refused to answer questions from homicide detectives, and the next day, River’s family called off the investigation. “The bottom line was the family didn’t want anyone to go to jail who was participating with River in ingesting the drugs,” said Detective Sergeant Lee. “They said that if it was an overdose of drugs then so be it.”
In the days and weeks following River’s death, news circuits ran wild as Joaquin’s 911 call flooded the airwaves and an outpouring of flowers and candles decorated the sidewalk where he collapsed. A veil of silence seemed to surround the details of that fateful night, and William Richert would later describe his death as mysterious as his life.
In a 1993 article by The Independent, a young woman named, Heather McDougal, claimed to have been a regular at the Viper Room. Here’s how she described that night:
“I got here about 11:45 and it was a completely different crowd from usual. A lot of heavy-core rock types. It was a very weird feeling. I saw River Phoenix standing over there, by the mirror, with some people, hanging out, having a good time. At that point, at least, he didn’t look abnormal. People say, ‘Oh, he was acting weird,’ because they want it to be that way.”
According to an article from the LA Times, November 2, 1993, the Viper Room was filled with mostly friends that night:
“On Saturday, when Chili Peppers bassist Flea joined an extemporaneous jam session on stage, the club was said to be filled with friends of the owners [Johnny Depp and Chuck E. Weiss], with only a handful of paying customers.”
Along with Flea, the jam session also included Johnny Depp’s band P.
In 1997, Johnny Depp appeared on the Rosie O’Donnell Show where he promoted P’s one and only album. When asked what the “P” stood for, Depp simply replied that it was a letter of the alphabet. In fact, the letter “P” is the sixteenth letter of the alphabet which comes out to 8+8=16.
P released their debut album on November 21, 1995. The artwork featured above was included with the album’s booklet. A green “Michael Stipe” is shown with a long, extended tongue and a letter “P” at the end. Here, we have a picture of the prophecies found within R.E.M.’s music and videos. The color green represents present time. Shades of blue and pink color the background representing prophecy (blue, the water), sound frequencies (pink noise) and the realm of the golden gods. In other words, water music.
A fleshy umbrella-like shape covers the area known as the thorax. The thorax or chest region includes the vital organs for the respiratory and circulation systems including the heart. Above his left hand, a sun is shown in the same fleshy color. This, most likely, symbolizes the dying/golden god being connected or married to Michael Stipe.
His left eye is colored yellow with a highly constricted pupil or a pinpoint pupil. The size of the pupil is controlled by the amount of light entering the eye. The brighter the light, the more constricted the pupil. Thus, we have the light of the golden gods. We have Michael Stipe mastering the “art of bunny.”
The right eye looks to one of the kidney bean-shaped figures. These represent the rocks or stones associated with the dying/golden gods. Our kidneys regulate phosphates in the body, thus, the “kidney stones” are symbolic of the golden gods.
The bottom half of “Michael Stipe” is a skeleton, colored like the left eye with a golden yellow. This also represents being connected to a dying/golden god. The dying god like a skeleton, a whited sepulcher or a statue, like calcium phosphate turned to stone. And the golden god is the light-bearer, phosphorus, or “Lucifer.” With the chemical symbol “P,” phosphorus is only found as a free element in space.
The arrow pointing up in the bottom left corner represents Michael Stipe’s tongue as a sharp arrow. He moved up the ladder with the fruition of River’s prophecy, exemplified with the period. “Our sentence ends with a blue period.” The Blue Point Diner. The end of translation. Interestingly, the arrow also resembles a hairpin loop of DNA.
The above artwork depicts “P” with the left pupil dilated and the right pupil constricted – the opposite of “Michael Stipe’s” eyes. Pupils dilate (expand in size) to take in more light in low-light situations. The symbolism implies that P as a band was that light. In a low-light situation such as the Viper Room, P took to the stage with their song “Michael Stipe” in an attempt to rewrite River’s book of life.
P appears to be holding (what looks like) a pillar of salt in one hand, and in the other, long extended fingers seem to form another pillar of salt. We can think of salt as DNA (phosphates in the body) that ultimately led to River’s death. P’s “face” is colored orange which signifies the last departed time (yellow) coming together with the destination time (red). “Michael Stipe” (the words in black) appear in the bottom right-hand corner, which is, again, opposite of the “Michael Stipe” artwork.
With its left eye (controlled by the right side of the brain) now hypnotized and its mouth turned backwards, P rolls the dice. An arrow points to an unknown side of the die.
The theory is that River and his friends were trying to create the scene, turn the treat (the gift) into a trick. Trick or treat on Halloween. The alleged blue cup that John Frusciante supposedly handed to River, saying, “drink this, it’ll make you feel fabulous” also supports this theory. The song “Michael Stipe,” the alleged cocaine being passed around like salt, like prophecy in the blood — River took a gamble that night like the letter P rolling the dice.
“River died in front of the Viper Club on Halloween under a full moon. Those are dark circumstances.”
William Richert, Writer/Director
In the end, River’s last night at the Viper Room seemed to turn out exactly as planned — a truth made plain only after the fact. August of 1993 (just two months prior to River’s death) marked the grand opening of the Viper Room, located at 8852 Sunset Blvd. The sum of 8+8+5+2 = 23, the age River was when he died, his 23rd birthday on August 23, 1993. There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in a human cell. DNA. The two strips of white paint resembling a road above the number 236 on that old blue truck. “Him and River Phoenix were leaving on the road tomorrow,” while River died on the sidewalk outside. The circumstances really were too much.
River died early Halloween morning outside of the Viper Room, but that’s not where his story ends.
The Apple and the birdcage 
