RIO GRANDE
(Great Lakes verses)

Solo:
Oh, say were you ever in Rio Grande?
Chorus:
Away you, Rio!
Solo:
It's there that the river runs down golden sand.

And we're bound for the Rio Grande.
And away, haul away, away, you Rio!
It's fare you well, my bonnie young gal,
We're bound for the Rio Grande!

Oh, man the good capstan and run it around
We'll heave in the anchor, for we're outward bound.

Oh, man the good capstan, heave steady and strong,
And sing a good chorus for 'tis a good song.

Our anchor we'll weigh, and the sails we will set
And the girls in Chicago we'll never forget.

Oh, the town of Chicago is no place for me,
I'll pick up my dunnage and go off to sea.

Oh, good-bye to Sally, and good-bye to Sue
And you who are listening, it's good-bye to you.

It's good-bye, fair ladies, it's good-bye all 'round
We've left enough cash to buy half this town.

In Rio Grande I'll take my stand,
Oh, Rio Grande is a happy fair land.

It's there that the Portagee girls can be found
And they are the girls to waltz sailors around.

We'll ride in a carriage and live high and free.
Oh, that happy strand is the right place for me.

Away, Rio, away you Rio!

Composite, verses recalled by Captain William Clark, Carl Joys of Milwaukee, Ben Peckham of Oswego, and Robert "Brokenback" Collen. "All had sailed in the grain freighters between Chicago, Milwaukee, and Buffalo.
Note: Often prefaced with some stanzas from an old English nursery song beginning "Oh, where are you going, my pretty fair maid?"

Ivan H. Walton and Joe Grimm, 2002, "Windjammers, Songs of the Great Lakes Sailors," pp. 34-36, with music. Wayne State University Press, Detroit.