Banks of the Ohio

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Banks of the Ohio is a nineteenth century murder ballad, in which Willie invites his young lover for a walk, murdering her, once they are alone on the deserted river bank, after she rejects his marriage proposal. The song has been recorded countless times, including versions by Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, the Blue Sky Boys (whose version, performed in 1936, appears in the soundtrack of the 1973 film Paper Moon), the Monroe Brothers, Joan Baez, Olivia Newton-John (in 1971, her second commercial single in the United States), and Doc Watson, with slightly different lyrics when sung by a female vocalist. The song is similar in subject matter to "Pretty Polly", and likely tells the same story. (Both songs date from approximately the same time, follow roughly the same storyline, and both songs feature a villain named "Willie".)