Lyrics
The provenance of the song is unclear, and there are many sets of lyrics.
Some lyrics may tell the story of a roving trader in love with the daughter of an Indian chief; in this interpretation, the rover tells the chief of his intent to take the girl with him far to the west, across the Missouri River. Other interpretations tell of a pioneer's nostalgia for the Shenandoah River Valley in Virginia, or of a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War, dreaming of his country home in Virginia.
The song is also associated with escaped slaves. They were said to sing the song in gratitude because the river allowed their scent to be lost.
The Shenandoah area made many parts like wheels and seats for wagons going west. These parts were assembled in Conestoga Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and settlers set out in Conestoga wagons down the Ohio River, on the Mississippi and west up the Missouri River. Lyrics were undoubtedly added by rivermen, settlers, and the millions who went west.
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I long to see you,
- Away you rolling river.
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I long to see you,
- Away, I'm bound away,
- 'cross the wide Missouri.
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- Oh Shenandoah,
- I love your daughter,
- Away, you rolling river.
- For her I'd cross,
- Your roaming waters,
- Away, I'm bound away,
- 'Cross the wide Missouri.
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- 'Tis seven years,
- since last I've seen you,
- And hear your rolling river.
- 'Tis seven years,
- since last I've seen you,
- Away, we're bound away,
- Across the wide Missouri.
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- Oh Shenandoah,
- I long to see you,
- And hear your rolling river.
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I long to see you,
- Away, we're bound away,
- Across the wide Missouri.
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The lyrics as given in Sea Songs and Shanties, collected by W.B. Whall, Master Mariner (1910) is as follows:
- Miss-ou-ri, she's a mighty riv-er.
- A - way you rolling riv-er.
- The red-skins' camp, lies on its bor-ders.
- Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
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- The white man loved the Indian maiden,
- A - way you rolling riv-er.
- With notions his canoe was laden. (note: Notions = knick-knacks)
- Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
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- "O, Shenandoah, I love your daughter,
- A - way you rolling riv-er.
- I'll take her 'cross yon rolling water."
- Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
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- The chief disdained the trader's dollars:
- A - way you rolling riv-er.
- "My daughter never you shall follow."
- Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
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- At last there came a Yankee skipper.
- A - way you rolling riv-er.
- He winked his eye, and he tipped his flipper.
- Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
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- He sold the chief that fire-water,
- A - way you rolling riv-er.
- And 'cross the river he stole his daughter.
- Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
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- "O, Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
- A - way you rolling riv-er.
- Across that wide and rolling river."
- Ah-ha, I'm bound a-way, 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
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A Mr. J.E. Laidlaw of San Francisco reported hearing a version sung by a black Barbadian sailor aboard the Glasgow ship Harland in 1894, which went:
- Oh, Shenandoah! I hear you calling!
- Away, you rolling river!
- Yes, far away I hear you calling,
- Ha, Ha! I'm bound away across the wide Missouri.
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- My girl, she's gone far from the river,
- Away, you rolling river!
- An' I ain't goin' to see her never.
- Ha, Ha! I'm bound away, " &c.
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Alfred Mason Williams' 1895 Studies in Folk-song and Popular Poetry called it a "good specimen of a bowline chant". In his 1931 book on sea and river chanteys entitled Capstan Bars, David Bone wrote that "Oh Shenandoah" originated as a river chanty or shanty and then became popular with sea-going crews in the early 19th century.
Lyrics to Oh Shenandoah by Tennessee Ernie Ford
- Oh Shenandoah, I hear you calling,
- Hi-Ho, You rolling river.
- Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
- Hi-Ho, I'm bound Away.
- 'Cross the wide, Missouri.
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- Miss-ou-ri, She's a mighty river,
- Hi-Ho, You rolling River.
- When she rolls down, Her topsoils shiver,
- Hi-Ho, I'm bound Away,
- 'Cross the wide, Miss-ou-ri.
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- Farwell my Dearest, I'm bound to leave you,
- Hi-Ho, You rolling river.
- Oh Shenandoah, I'll not Deceive you,
- Hi-Ho, I'm bound Away.
- 'Cross the wide Miss-ou-ri.
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