Oh Shenandoah
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"Oh Shenandoah" (also called simply "Shenandoah") is an American folk song, dating to the early 19th century.
With possible origins in Virginia, noting that its title is also the name of a Virginia river, the song has been considered for that state's official state song. In his 1931 book on sea and river chanteys entitled Capstan Bars, David Bone wrote that "Oh Shenandoah" originated as a river chanty and then became popular with sea-going crews in the early 1800s. The Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton noted in 2005 that Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham immortalized the jolly flatboatmen who plied the Missouri River in the early 1800s; these same flatboatmen were known for their chanties, including the haunting "Oh Shenandoah". This boatmen’s song found its way down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to the American clipper ships, and thus around the world.
The lyrics tell the story of a roving trader in love with the daughter of an Indian chief; the rover tells the chief of his intent to take the girl with him far to the west, across the Missouri River.
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I long to hear you,
- Away you rolling river,
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I long to hear you,
- Away, I'm bound away
- 'Cross the wide Missouri.
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I love your daughter,
- Away you rolling river,
- I'll take her
- 'cross your rollin' water,
- Away, I'm bound away
- 'Cross the wide Missouri.
- 'Tis seven years
- since last I saw you.
- Away you rolling river,
- 'Tis seven years
- since last I saw you.
- Away, I'm bound away
- 'Cross the wide Missouri.
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I love your daughter,
- Away you rolling river,
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I'll come to claim her.
- Away, I'm bound away
- 'Cross the wide Missouri.
- In all these years,
- Whene'er I saw her,
- We have kept
- Our love a secret,
- Oh! Shenandoah,
- I do adore her,
- Away, I'm bound away
- 'Cross the wide Missouri.
- Oh Shenandoah,
- She's bound to leave you.
- Away you rolling river,
- Oh Shenandoah,
- I'll not deceive you.
- Away, I'm bound away
- 'Cross the wide Missouri.
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[edit] Interim state song of Virginia
For a time in early 2006 it appeared that "Shenandoah" would become the "interim state song" for Virginia. While the authorizing legislation passed the Virginia Senate, the measure died in committee on the House side. It was a problematic choice because the song never specifically mentions Virginia and, in many versions of the song, the name "Shenandoah" refers to an Indian chief, not the valley or river named "Shenandoah". However, an early rendition of the song, as related in 1931 by David Bone in Capstan Bars, includes verses that appear to allude to the Shenandoah River, which is partly in Virginia:
- Oh, Shenandoah's my native valley.
- Aa-way, you rolling river!
- Shenandoah is my native valley.
- Ah-way, we're bound to go, 'cross th' wide Missouri!
- Oh, Shenandoah, it's far I wander.
- Aa-way, you rolling river!
- Shenandoah, it's far I wander.
- Ah-way, we're bound to go, 'cross th' wide Missouri!
- Oh, Shenandoah has rushing waters.
- Aa-way, you rolling river!
- Shenandoah has rushing waters.
- Ah-way, we're bound to go, 'cross th' wide Missouri!
It is possible that, as the song's popularity spread, flatboatmen of the Missouri might have evolved different lyrics than the bargemen of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal along the Potomac or sailors of the American clipper fleet out of New Orleans.
[edit] Other Possible Origins
Another theory for the song is that it originated from the Scots-Irish settlers of the mid-Atlantic coast of the united states (I.E: Virginia). The 7 long years since I last saw thee refers to the common terms of indenture in the settlement days under which a young person could be moved just about anywhere. The song is an expression of longing to return to a sweetheart again after 7 years of indenture, presumably "across the wide Missouri". The young man would be returning to the Shenandoah, which is, par excellence "a rolling river". This correspondent says the Indian chief material is a later corruption. The original indenture theme is confirmed by the line "away' I’m bound away"; that is to say he is bound away by the terms of his indenture. This also explains the sea shanty use of the song. Scots-irish indenture in this period also applied to various seafaring occupations.
The correspondent adds that the "flat boats on the Missouri" assertion as an explanation for the growth of the song is erroneously based on the reference to the Missouri in the original song. The Missouri is there because it is a long way away from the Shenandoah valley, not because the song is connected with flat boats. The young man in the song is bound by indenture across the wide Missouri: the Missouri is a reference point suitably far from the Shenandoah valley.
Erroneous too is the focus on New Orleans as a source of its spread as a sea shanty. It is far more likely that Baltimore was the taking off point for its life as a sea shanty, as Baltimore in its hey-day would have a been a focal point for the scots-irish indenture system as far as it applied to sea-going trades . The young men indentured from littoral regions of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland would have brought the song with them fron their family homes.
[edit] External links
- Congressman Ike Skelton on "Oh Shenandoah"
- Virginia state song debate
- Virginia Senate gives approval to interim state song
