Ol' man river

Subject: Ol´man river
From:
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 06:43 AM

Anyone out there who has the text of "Ol´man river"? Thanks in advance Richard

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Wolfgang
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 07:20 AM

Richard,
go to the upper right hand corner and enter [man river] into the search window and you have it.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Gene
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 12:54 PM

When searching the DATABASE for lyrics to a song
and the spelling of a word is questionable
or has multiple ways to be spelled
try using a wild card [*] as in this example:
[ol* man river] accounts for old, ole and ol'

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Frank Of Toledo
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 01:27 PM

Ol Man Rive, dat ol' man river - He must know sumpin' But don't say nuthin' -He just keeps rollin, He keeps on rollin' along He don't plant taters - He don' plant cotton and dem dat plants em is soon forgotten But ol man river he keeps on rollin' along. You n'me we sweat and strain - bodies all achin' and racked with pain Tote dat barge - Lift dat bale Get a little drunk and you land in jail Ah gets weary n' sick of trying =Ah'm tired of livin' and skared of dyin' - But ol man river He keeps on rollin alon This is the way it was written pretty exeact from the sheetmusic from the MGM Sountrack of the movie..

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 01:33 PM

Whoo! Quite a set of lyrics when you read 'em off a page. Paul Robeson changed "get a little drunk....." to "show a little spunk, and you land in jail".

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: LEJ
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 03:09 PM

Wasn't this song from "Showboat"? Was it a Rodgers and Hammerstein song?

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: SeanM
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 03:20 PM

Yes on both, from what I understand. I'm positive on the 'Showboat', and modestly sure on teh R & H... M

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 04:41 PM

Oscar Hammerstein II worked as a lyricist with various composers. For the 1927 musical Showboat, which includes this song, he worked with Jerome Kern. At the time, it was Lorenz Hart who worked as a lyricist with Richard Rodgers.
Hammerstein also worked with Signund Romberg, wrote English lyrics to Bizet's Carmen for the musical Carmen Jones, and collaborated with Otto Harbach on some songs. He did some 11 musicals with Rodgers.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Frank Of Toledo
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 05:36 PM

Great version done many years ago by Paul Robeson. The Showboat movie version was done by William Warfield, I believe.

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: John Hindsill
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 10:48 PM

Warfield sang OMR in the 1950s version of Showboat. Paul Robeson did the 1930s (better) version.

Incidentally, owing to modern sensibilities, it is hard to hear an authentic version of the song anymore.

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Pete M
Date: 18 Apr 99 - 05:13 PM

John, depends on what you mean by an "authentic" version. There are CD reissues of Paul Robeson's recordings of the original "Showboat" lyrics available, but as Rick notes he later changed the words of the last verse to: "... Show a little spunk and you land in jail, Ah gets weary n' sick of trying But I must keep fightin' until I'm dyin' And 'ol man river He keeps on rollin along."

and sang this version at all his live performances. I haven't got a commercial recording of this version, but its possibly on the Peace Arch concert CD. (Next on my list to acquire, funds willing!)

Pete M

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: John Hindsill
Date: 18 Apr 99 - 06:20 PM

Pete, what I said (much too obliquely) is that no one now would sing it as originally written...at least that's what I meant.

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 19 Apr 99 - 05:47 PM

Gosh, I hope they wouldn't sing it that way now. That's not being politically correct, it's just a matter of good taste.

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: GUEST,genies
Date: 12 Aug 01 - 01:55 AM

If you have the chance, check out Stan Freberg's "Elderly Man River" from the late 1950's (or early '60's). If you think "political correctness' is a new phenomenon, guess again. The censors keep editing the song -- to avoid offending anyone or setting a bad linguistic example for the kids -- and end up with the text sounding like: "Elderly man river, that elderly man river, he must know something, but he doesn't say anything. He just keeps rolling, he keeps on rolling along. He doesn't plant potatoes, he doesn't plant cotton .. er, "cotting," and them .. er ... those who plant them are soon forgotting ... ." Nowadays, we could update Freberg's version to go: "Senior citizen River, that senior citizen river, he or she must know something ... ."

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Aug 01 - 12:54 PM

Good taste? Politically correct versions destroy our sense of the past. I hope we will soon outgrow the current nonsense.

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: SINSULL
Date: 12 Aug 01 - 02:04 PM

Intro:
"Darkies all work on the Mississippi
Darkies all work while the white man (plays?)
What does he care if a man got troubles
What does he care if the land ain't free?"

Originally the first word was "niggers". Supposedly, Robeson and other black cast members voted to change it.

Subject: RE: Ol´man river
From: Joe_F
Date: 12 Aug 01 - 06:37 PM

By the time I was little (1940s) the introduction had been improved to

Colored folks work on the Mississippi,
Colored folks work while the white folks play,
Haulin' them barges from dawn till sundown,
Gettin' no rest till the judgement day.

And later on

Let me go way from the Mississippi,
Let me go way from the white man boss,
Show me that stream called the River Jordan,
That's the old stream that I'd like to cross.