RIO GRANDE
(Capstan Shanty)

Oh say were you ever in Rio Grande? –
Awa-ay Rio!
It's there that the rivers run down golden sand –
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.

And awa-ay Rio – oh, you Rio –
Sing fa-are you well, my bonny young girl,
For we're bound for the Rio Grande.

So pack up your donkey and get under way –
Awa-ay Rio!
The girls we are leaving can have our half-pay,
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.

And awa-ay Rio – oh, you Rio –
Sing fa-are you well, my bonny young girl,
For we're bound for the Rio Grande.

You Liverpool ladies, we'd have you to know,
Awa-ay Rio!
We're bound to the South'ard, oh Lord let us go!
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.

And awa-ay Rio – oh, you Rio –
Sing fa-are you well, my bonny young girl,
For we're bound for the Rio Grande.

And now fare you well, all you girls of the town,
Awa-ay Rio!
The pay we have left you will buy a silk gown –
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.

And awa-ay Rio – oh, you Rio –
Sing fa-are you well, my bonny young girl,
For we're bound for the Rio Grande.


Notes by CFS, p. 18:

This, with "Blow the Man Down," is probably the most generally known of all the shanties, both ashore and afloat.

I find that the air is practically identical in nearly all the collections…The words, on the other hand, very a great deal…The accepted version, however, is – with slight variations – generally on the lines of that which I give.

The identity of the "Rio Grande" referred to affords ground for interesting speculation.

The reference to the rivers which "run down golden sands" rather suggests the Mexican Rio Grande: but the gold discoveries there were not made until the 'sixties (1860's), and the shanty was, I believe, known long before that date. There seems, then, just a possibility that it may go back to the eighteenth century, when crowds of gold-seekers were flocking to the south of Brazil: in which case it must be one of the oldest of the shanties.

And oh! one word, please! "Ry-o," not "Ree-o" – and "Grande" to rhyme with "sand."

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Click to play

ABC of music - p. 19

X:1
T:Rio Grande
C:C. Fox Smith 'A BOOK OF SHANTIES' p.19
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:Eb
z4zE|GGG GFE|(FG)F E2E|B3-B Gc|
w:Oh say, were you ev-er in Ri_-o Grande? A-wa_-ay Ri
B3z2B|cde BAG|ABA GEF|GGE F B2|
w:-o! It's there that the riv-ers run down gol-den sand And we're bound for the Ri-o
E3E2F|G3-G2F|F E2z3|B3-B2G|c B2z2B|
w:Grande. And a-wa_-ay Ri-o, Oh_ you Ri-o; Sing
(cd)e (BA)G|ABA GEF|G3/2G/2G F B2|E3-E2
w:fare_ you well,_ my bon-ny young girl, For we're bound for the Ri-o Grande._