We sang this at my Girl Scout camp in Georgia. We were told it was written by a sick girl in New Orleans, watching the barges go down the Mississippi, close to the mouth of the river.

Out of my window, looking through the night
I can see the barge's flickering light
Starboard shines green and port is glowing red
I can see the barges far ahead

(CHORUS)
Barges, I would like to go with you
I would like to sail the ocean blue
Barges, have you treasures in your hold
Do you fight with pirates, brave and bold

Out of my window, looking through the night
I can see the barge's flickering light
Silently flows the river to the sea
And the barges, too, go silently

(CHORUS)

Though I must stay beside my window drear
As I watch you sail away from here,
One of these days, and it will not be long,
You will look for me and I'll be gone

(CHORUS)

Barges, I am going now with you
I am going to sail the ocean blue
Barges have we treasures in our hold?
Do we fight with pirates brave and bold?

Barges, we have treasures in our hold
As we sail away into the cold!

------

As an abused teenager, the line "One of these days, and it will not be long, you will look for me and I'll be gone" always stayed with me. I told myself it would be on a paper in my hand when I committed suicide. Fortunately, that never happened.

I like the bittersweet ending of our version of the song. The girl gets to go with barges, but is, of course, a metaphor for her death.