The popular song "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal" was written in 1905 by Thomas S. Allen after Erie Canal barge traffic was converted from mule power to engine power, raising the speed of traffic above fifteen miles per day. The tune is sadly nostalgic. Also known as "Low Bridge, Everybody Down," "The Erie Canal Song," "Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal," "Mule Named Sal," and "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal," the song memorializes the years from 1825 to 1880 when the mule barges made boomtowns out of Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, and transformed New York into the Empire State.
The music cover (right) published in 1915 depicts a boy on a mule getting down to pass under a bridge, but the song refers to travelers who would typically ride on top of the boats. The low bridges would require them to get down out of the way to allow safe passage under a bridge.[1]
The song has become part of the folk repertoire, recorded by folksingers like Glenn Yarborough, Pete Seeger and the Weavers, The Kingston Trio, and western artists like the Sons of the Pioneers. Dan Zanes included it on a children's album with Suzanne Vega singing lead. Bruce Springsteen also recorded the song on his 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions.
Low Bridge
By Thomas S. Allen
I've got a mule, her name is Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
She's a good old worker and a good old pal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
We've hauled some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal, and hay
And we know every inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo
Chorus:
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge cause we're coming to a town
And you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your pal
If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal
Get up there Sal, we've passed that lock,
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
And we'll make Rome before six o'clock
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
One more trip and back we'll go
Through the rain and sleet and snow
And we know every inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge for we're coming to a town
And you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your pal
If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal.