"Oh Shenandoah" (also called "Shenandoah", "Across the Wide Missouri", "Rolling River", "Oh, My Rolling River", "World of Misery''") is a traditional

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

, sung in the Americas, of uncertain origin, dating to the early 19th century. The song "Shenandoah" appears to have originated with American and Canadian

voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including th ...

or fur traders traveling down the Missouri River in canoes and has developed several different sets of lyrics. Some lyrics refer to the

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida ...

chief Shenandoah and a canoe-going trader who wants to marry his daughter. By the mid 1800s versions of the song had become a

sea shanty A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...

heard or sung by sailors in various parts of the world. The song is number 324 in the

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the Londo ...

. Other variations (due to the influence of its oral dispersion among different regions) include the Caribbean (St. Vincent) version, "World of Misery", referring not to an "Indian princess" but to "the white mullata".

History

Until the 19th century only adventurers who sought their fortunes as trappers and traders of beaver fur ventured as far west as the Missouri River. Most of these Canadian and US "

" in the fur trade era were loners who became friendly with, and sometimes married, Native Americans. Some lyrics of this song heard by and before 1860 tell the story of a trader who fell in love with the daughter of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

chief Shenandoah (1710–1816) who lived in the central New York state town of Oneida Castle. He was a co-founder of the Oneida Academy which became

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

in Clinton, New York, and is buried on the campus grounds. The

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

-going fur-trading ''voyageurs'' were great singers and songs were an important part of their culture. In the early 19th century flatboatmen who plied the Missouri River were known for their shanties, including "Oh Shenandoah". Sailors heading down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

picked up the song and made it a capstan shanty that they sang while hauling in the anchor. This boatmen's song found its way down the Mississippi River to American

clipper ship A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...

s—and thus around the world. The song had become popular as a

with seafaring sailors by the mid 1800s. A version of the song called "Shanadore" was printed in Capt. Robert Chamblet Adams' article "Sailors' Songs" in the April 1876 issue of ''The New Dominion Monthly''. He also included it in his 1879 book ''On Board the "Rocket"''. "Shanadore" was later printed as part of William L. Alden's article "Sailor Songs" in the July 1882 issue of '' Harper's New Monthly Magazine'', and in the 1892 book ''Songs that Never Die''.

Alfred Mason Williams Alfred Owen Williams (7 February 1877 – 10 April 1930) was a poet, author and a collector of folk song lyrics who was born and lived most of his life at South Marston, near Swindon, UK. He was almost entirely self-taught, producing his m ...

' 1895 ''Studies in Folk-song and Popular Poetry'' called it a "good specimen of a bowline chant". Percy Grainger recorded Charles Rosher of London England singing ''Shenandoah'' in 1906 and the recording is available online via the British Library Sound Archive. A recording sung by former shantyman Stanely Slade of Bristol, England, in 1943 is also publicly available. In a 1930 letter to the UK newspaper ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' a former sailor who had worked aboard clipper ships that carried wool between Australia and Great Britain in the 1880s said that he believed the song had originated as an African American spiritual which developed into a work song.

Lyrics

Since "Shenandoah" was a riverman's and then sailor's song and went through numerous changes and versions over the years and centuries, there are no set lyrics. Modern variations may include lyrics such as the following: :Oh Shenandoah, :I long to see you, :Away, you rolling river. :Oh Shenandoah, :I long to see you, :Way, we're bound away :Across the wide Missouri. :Oh Shenandoah, :I love your daughter, :Away, you rolling river. :For her I'd cross :Your roaming waters, :Way, we're bound away :Across the wide Missouri. :'Tis seven years :since last I've seen you, :Away, you rolling river. :'Tis seven years :since last I've seen you, :Way, we're bound away :Across the wide Missouri. :Oh Shenandoah, :I long to hear you, :And hear your rolling river. :Oh Shenandoah, :I long to hear you, :Way, we're bound away :Across the wide Missouri. :Oh Shenandoah, :I long to hear you, :Far away, you rolling river. :Oh Shenandoah, :Just to be near you, :Far away, far away. :Across the wide Missouri.

Earlier versions

Lyrics from prior to 1860, given by Whall (1910) were reported as follows: :Missouri, she's a mighty river. :Away you rolling river. :The redskins' camp, lies on its borders. :Ah-ha, I'm bound away, 'Cross the wide Missouri. :The white man loved the Indian maiden, :Away you rolling river :With notions his canoe was laden. :Ah-ha, I'm bound away, 'Cross the wide Missouri. :"O, Shenandoah, I love your daughter, :Away you rolling river. :I'll take her 'cross yon rolling water." :Ah-ha, I'm bound away, 'Cross the wide Missouri. :The chief disdained the trader's dollars: :Away you rolling river. :"My daughter never you shall follow." :Ah-ha, I'm bound away, 'Cross the wide Missouri. :At last there came a Yankee skipper. :Away you rolling river. :He winked his eye, and he tipped his flipper. :Ah-ha, I'm bound away, 'Cross the wide Missouri. :He sold the chief that fire-water, :Away you rolling river. :And 'cross the river he stole his daughter. :Ah-ha, I'm bound away, 'Cross the wide Missouri. :"O, Shenandoah, I long to hear you, :Away you rolling river. :Across that wide and rolling river." :Ah-ha, I'm bound away, 'Cross the wide Missouri. J.E. Laidlaw of San Francisco reported hearing a version sung by a black Barbadian sailor aboard the Glasgow ship ''Harland'' in 1894: :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. :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.) Lyrics to "Oh Shenandoah" as sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford (1959): :Oh Shenandoah, I hear you calling, :Hi-o, you rolling river. :Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you, :Hi-o, I'm bound away. :'Cross the wide, Mis-sou-ri. :Mis-sou-ri, She's a mighty river, :Hi-o, you rolling river. :When she rolls down, her topsails shiver, :Hi-o, I'm bound away, :'Cross the wide, Mis-sou-ri. :Farewell my dearest, I'm bound to leave you, :Hi-o, you rolling river. :Oh Shenandoah, I'll not deceive you, :Hi-o, I'm bound away. :'Cross the wide Mis-sou-ri.

Modern usage

The song is popular in local organizations such as:

Shenandoah University Shenandoah University is a private university in Winchester, Virginia. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students across more than 200 areas of study in six schools: College of Arts & Sciences (including the Division of Education and ...

Southern Virginia University Southern Virginia University (SVU) is a private liberal arts college in Buena Vista, Virginia. The college, though not officially affiliated with a particular faith, embraces the values of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Ch ...

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

and the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

. "Shenandoah" was proposed as the "interim state song" for

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

in 2006 with updated lyrics. The proposal was contentious because the standard folksong refers to the Missouri River and in most versions of the song the name "Shenandoah" refers to an Indian chief, not the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridg ...

Shenandoah River The Shenandoah River is the principal tributary of the Potomac River, long with two forks approximately long each,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 in t ...

, both of which lie almost entirely in Virginia. "

Our Great Virginia "Our Great Virginia" is the regional anthem of the U.S. state of Virginia. History It was adopted unanimously by the Virginia Senate as the official List of U.S. state songs, state song of Virginia in early July 2015. Sung to the traditional tune ...

" which uses the melody of "Shenandoah" was designated by the Virginia Legislature as the official traditional state song of Virginia in 2015. In the movies it is featured in the soundtrack of the 1965 movie '' Shenandoah,'' starring Jimmy Stewart. It is also heard repeatedly in 1947's ''

Mourning Becomes Electra ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932, starring Lee Baker ...

'', and as part of a medley in the 1962 film '' How the West Was Won''. The choir arrangement of the song has also been used in the films ''The Good Shepard'' and ''Nixon''. Members of the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...

chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Various arrangements by Percy Grainger have been recorded by John Shirley-Quirk and other classically trained singers. "A song of the waters: variations on the folksong Shenandoah" is a classical composition by

James Cohn James Cohn (February 12, 1928 – June 12, 2021) was a Newark, New Jersey-born American composer. After taking violin and piano lessons in his native town, he studied composition with Roy Harris, Wayne Barlow and Bernard Wagenaar, and majored i ...

. At least one version was arranged by

Leslie Woodgate Hubert Leslie Woodgate (15 April 190018 May 1961) was an English choral conductor, composer, and writer of books on choral music. He was born in London, and educated at Westminster School and the Royal College of Music. During the 1920s, he was ...

. A version of the song was used as the theme for the TV Western series '' A Man Called Shenandoah'' that aired from 1965 to 1966. This particular version was performed by Robert Horton, the star of the series, who also wrote the adapted lyrics that were used. The song was used in the HBO television series '' The Newsroom'', season 3, episode 5, "Oh Shenandoah". This song was also performed by the main character and his friends in the Netflix TV series '' House of Cards'', season 1, chapter 8.

Selected notable recordings

* Jo Stafford on ''

American Folk Songs The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ''roots music''. Many traditional songs have been sung ...

'' (Corinthian, 1950) * Paul Clayton on ''Whaling and Sailing Songs from the Days of Moby Dick'' (Allmusic, 1956) *

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

on ''American Favorite Ballads, Volume 1'' (

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fo ...

, 1958) *

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

on ''

Down in the Groove ''Down in the Groove'' is the 25th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 30, 1988 by Columbia Records. A highly collaborative effort, it was Dylan's second consecutive album to receive almost unanimously negative r ...

'' (1988) *

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

and

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

on '' Not For Kids Only'' (1993) *

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

and the Seeger Sessions Band on '' We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' (Columbia, 2006) *

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

with Keith Richards on '' Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys'' (Anti-, 2013). * Tony Rice Unit on ''Unit Of Measure'' (Rounder, 2000)

Footnotes

References

External links

1921 version, from ''The Shanty Book''

{{Authority control 19th-century songs American folk songs American frontier Bob Dylan songs Fur trade Glen Campbell songs Jo Stafford songs Judy Garland songs Missouri River Sea shanties Shenandoah River Sissel Kyrkjebø songs Songs of the American Civil War Songwriter unknown The Statler Brothers songs Van Morrison songs Virginia culture Year of song unknown Shenandoah Valley