Lyr Req: Shenandoah (Fisherman's Friends)

Subject: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: GUEST,Brooko
Date: 02 Oct 17 - 01:22 PM

Has anyone got the lyrics to shanandoah by the fishermans friends

Subject: Lyr Add: SHENANDOAH
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 02 Oct 17 - 03:48 PM

Other brands are available! From Wikipedia;

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 lyrics are usually some variation of the following:

Oh Shenandoah,
I long to see you,
Away you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah,
I long to see you,
Away, I'm bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri.

Oh Shenandoah,
I love your daughter,
Away, you rolling river.
For her I'd cross
Your roaming waters,
Away, I'm bound away
'Cross 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,
Away, we're bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri.

Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away, you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away, we're bound away
'Cross 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.
'Cross the wide Missouri.

Subject: Lyr Add: SHENANDOAH (Fisherman's Friends)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Oct 17 - 08:26 PM

I found a Fisherman's Friends performance of "Shenandoah" here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LuCuF2_W7Q

SHENANDOAH

O Shenandoah, I love your daughter,
Away, my rolling river.
Shenandoah, the white mulatta,
We are bound away from this world of misery.

For seven years, I toiled(?) the ocean,
Away, my rolling river.
For seven years, I've been a rover,(?)
We are bound away from this world of misery.

I courted Sally, no pen no paper...
I courted Sally on foolscap paper...

Nobody knows about my toiling...
Nobody knows about my danger...

O Shenandoah, I love your daughter...
Shenandoah, the white mulatta...

That's pretty close. Many of the lyrics were hard to hear because the recording has more background noise, than singing.

Hope that helps.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 03 Oct 17 - 01:01 AM

This is the St. Vincentian tradition of "Rolling River," at least in the lyrical theme. There is no "Shenandoah" in it—which may seem just a pedantic point, since the song does belong to the family of so-called "Shenandoah" songs. However, at some point in the Anglo-American popular discourse, the oral tradition got funneled into one predominating interpretation of the song, where, among other things, "Shenandoah" is assumed to be the subject. In this orally-maintained Caribbean rendition (e.g. documented in the early 60s by Roger Abrahams), we have a chance to see through that fence that has been put around the song. Taking up a nearly identical theme to "Sally Brown," the men sang of "Sally," "Salambo" (sic), and "seven-long-years."

The Fishermen's Friends group looks to have taken lyrics from the St. Vincentian tradition and mixed it into the standard "Shenandoah" style. Not sure where they got the idea of sitting around and singing this while feeling "miserable." Sounds like something just made up from the fact of the word "misery." The Vincentians don't paint it in that way (?). In their recent/current narrative, the whalemen particularly ascribe this song to the (actually rather happy) event of catching a whale after a long time, and it would be sung during the heavy task of rowing back to shore with the whale in tow. These songs are "always" work-songs, presumably sung in full voice.


Here's the whalemen of Barouallie, St. Vincent doing a facsimile of rowing while singing the song. The song was a staple during their whaling days, and I was always curious to see how they would fit this decidedly non-rhythmic tune to the rhythm of rowing.

https://youtu.be/_6rrzgwwZMU
Shortly after that, I got a chance to sing it while rowing a whaleboat. It works, but it's hard to describe what the rhythm actually is; you just sort of time it to your breathing, and the phrase lengths. In my opinion, the phrases would be long, held out. In the Fishermen's Friends performance, they execute a rather "clipped" style of cutting choruses short, which I think would not feel right when rowing.

I gave it a personal shot at trying to sing it, here:
https://youtu.be/fhpmAjepDu8

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: leeneia
Date: 05 Oct 17 - 11:38 AM

I went to a house concert once, and the singer there had learned this version from a sailor who was 90 years old. The old sailor sang this:

Away, I'm bound away
across this wide world of mis'ry.

I think misery makes more sense than Missouri, because if the singer is from the east (where the Shenandoah River is) and he crosses the Missouri, there are no rivers left where he can ply his trade.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Lighter
Date: 05 Oct 17 - 12:46 PM

Probably a coincidence, but "Salammbo" is the title of a historical novel by Flaubert (1862).

Great rendition, Gibb!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 05 Oct 17 - 08:46 PM

leeneia,

>I think misery makes more sense than Missouri, because if the singer is from the east (where the Shenandoah River is) and he crosses the Missouri, there are no rivers left where he can ply his trade.<

Why would he he have to ply his trade? What trade? Maybe he is just going West!

"Missouri" is very consistent in the historical evidence for this song. On the other hand, "Shenandoah" only becomes (increasingly) consistent after "outside" commentators begin to make that assumption (and their thoughts become available, in print, to others). While of course "Shenandoah" MAY be absolutely correct, there is far more "dissent" in the evidence on this point to call it into question. Therefore, I personally wouldn't assume Shenandoah River/Valley to be the starting point for the interpretation (i.e. if we're thinking about early versions), and I'd be much more inclined to interpret "Missouri [river]" as indicative of the place.

Besides, people in those days --people in the emerging Black-Popular-Song culture-- were much more concerned with the "great" rivers (Missouri, Ohio, Mississippi) and peppered their songs with them. The steamboats were there, and it's where "stuff" was happening. They were arteries and hubs. Shenandoah...hmm, not so much? Scots-Irish rolling around in some greenery? (I'm being silly.) I don't know, but my sense is that songs of this style were not minted in the boondocks. At least, less likely so! Although soft-toned performances of redheads and pennywhistles help us imagine so :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1EG_4IBzbA

If the "original" word was "misery," that would be fascinating. I've not seen enough evidence of that yet to suspect it though. Will keep an eye open.

One question I think is relevant is: How do we suppose people in the Caribbean got so many different variations on this theme? Do we suppose "the" song originates in the U.S. and some "sailors" (for example) carried it there, for example? I wouldn't say that's not possible. But the relative homogeneity of it in the sailors' shipboard context compared to the diversity in the Caribbean and in non-sailor, mostly Black labor contexts around the Gulf of Mexico makes me inclined not to imagine the "standard" Shenandoah as an item that spread with subsequent transformations but rather that the component bits of this theme had circulated, and that the "standard" is one of several expressions manifesting from that theme.

Below is one of my favorite of these variations. I had the fortune of being on the island this past July; all the singers on this recording are since deceased, but the living nephew of one of the singers remembered the song.

http://research.culturalequity.org/rc-b2/get-audio-detailed-recording.do?recordi

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 05 Oct 17 - 09:17 PM

Lighter,

Thanks. I don't know anything about Salambo except that Abrahams documented it in print. I don't know (or rather, can't remember) if he checked up on it or if he just guessed (?) at what he heard.

There are some other recordings of Vincentian whalers in the LoC, incidentally. No "salambo," but "sevenlam"—just a mistake, as I suppose the singer was improvising and letting typical phases come out like "seven long years" and "solid fas'". "Salambo" could have been a similar accident.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 06 Oct 17 - 05:52 AM

The story in the song may or may not be true, but it may well contain some historical references. Three extracts from Wikipedia;

1. The song appears to have originated with Canadian and American voyageurs or fur traders traveling down the Missouri River in canoes, and has developed several different sets of lyrics.

A version of the song called "Shanadore" was mentioned in Capt. Robert Chamblet Adams' article "Sailors' Songs" in the April 1876 issue of The New Dominion Monthly.

Lyrics from prior to 1860, as given in Sea Songs and Shanties collected by W.B. Whall, Master Mariner (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.

2. John Skenandoa c. 1706 – March 11, 1816), also called Shenandoah, was an elected chief of the Oneida.

A longtime friend of the minister Samuel Kirkland, a founder of Hamilton College, his request to be buried next to Kirkland was granted.

3. Shenandoah Valley; Various accounts tell the origin of the name. According to one, General George Washington named the valley (and river) in honor of Skenandoa (or Shenandoah).

However, the name was in use when Washington was a child, as evidenced in land grants and correspondence.

It is also said to be named after the Senedo people, a little-documented tribe said to have lived on the north fork of the river and destroyed by the Catawba, some time between 1650 and 1700.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 06 Oct 17 - 06:02 PM

henryp,

>The story in the song may or may not be true, but it may well contain some historical references. ... <

What are the historical reference you think it may contain? I wasn't clear after reading through the various statements.
By "it" do you mean just the version offered by Capt. Whall or the song as understood from the many and varied sources?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: GUEST,Hilary
Date: 06 Oct 17 - 07:22 PM

To address the question marks in the transcription from the video, a version I know has that verse as: Seven years I've sailed the ocean/ Seven years I never wrote her.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: GUEST,henry
Date: 07 Oct 17 - 01:32 AM

1. John Skenandoa was the father-in-law of the Mohawk war leader Joseph Brant.

So he did indeed have a daughter.

2. For the earliest explorers, the Missouri offered a north-south route, rather than a barrier to westward expansion.

So crossing the Missouri may have had a different significance then. It might even have represented crossing the border between two cultures.

3. The shanty may well have travelled down the Missouri and to the sea as the settlers were making their difficult journey west.

From a distance, the idea of crossing the wide Missouri may have had a romantic or adventurous appeal.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 07 Oct 17 - 05:13 AM

Yes, but
1) What are you actually getting in a song that speaks to those things specifically? Is it that you see the word "Shenandoah" (some authors' speculations of how to rationalize utterance they could make no sense of, like "Shanadore") so you go to the Oneida chief Shenandoah and just go with whatever thing you can imagine a guy could do or have? How does a chief of the Oneida people, of upstate New York, get connected to the Missouri River (on the border of which lies "the redskin camp"). Another chanty says, "Sally Brown, I love your daughter." Does that mean there's a history of a Sally Brown that is being told?
2) Do you mean just the version offered by Capt. Whall or the song as understood from the many and varied sources? Whale's version is just a drop in the pail compared to the many other different sources, with no trace of any "redskins." And what sense is there to imagine the song traveling down the river to the sea if there is only documentation of the songs at sea? It seems like a lot of round about work just to get at a fancy story for a song, for what purpose?

It seems more likely that Capt. Whall put down this version of the song, though his narration of it is puzzling indeed. Puzzling why? Simply because it is such an outlier among the other evidence, and because nothing else yet located supports it. So is it true? Who knows. But we do know something about Capt. Whall. We know he was a British sea captain and not, like his contemporaries like Frank Bullen, an ordinary seaman who sang chanties. We know (from his own explanation in his text) that he considered things from African American culture to be degraded and he avoided including songs in his collection if he thought they were connected to that culture. (Luckily for us, he didn't know how many songs really were connected.) We know that he made up fanciful stories or over-speculated about his material. His collection is the source of several of the legends about chanties. And we know that subsequent authors made great use of Whall's book. So both Whall's idea of Indian chiefs and his set of lyrics were replicated over and over again to form a bloc seeming to represent this "redskin." Historically, there is no bloc; there is only Whall's one entry.

People have seen this floating revival version of "Shenandoah" of Whall and woven a story around the Indian chief thing, rationalizing each bit to fit the pre-formed narrative. So I ask you to take it back to the beginning, before a narrative was formed that made it into the chap books and folk clubs and wikipedias. What if no one really sang the word "Shenandoah"? Whall himself says that "Rolling River" is an American song and that Americans sang "Shannadore." What if Whall merely assumed the "correct" thing must be "Shenandoah," in order to give it an easy explanation?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Lighter
Date: 07 Oct 17 - 10:40 AM

Gibb, I agree with your analysis but would add that, while anything is possible, if "Shannondore" was sung, "Shenandoah" was almost certainly intended.

From me on another thread a dozen years ago:

"In 1716 ... the colorful deputy governor of Virginia Colony, Alexander Spotswood, explored ... the Valley with his small but well-provisioned band of adventurers. They forded the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, which he named the Euphrates." -- Official website of the Town of Stanley, VA.

"O Yoofrateez,
I long to hear you!"

Further investigation shows that by 1746, the Indian name "Shannandore" (so spelled) for the river had come to be used by white settlers. Excellent choice.

....

I've looked further into the alleged existence of an early printed version of Whall's text. It seems to be unfindable.

I suspect that Whall's belief that the song came from a book was just a trick of memory.

But his assertion that he'd heard it in the 1850s remains presumably accurate.

PS: No one should get the idea that the "Yoofrateez" version was the "original." I simply made it up for our entertainment.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 07 Oct 17 - 01:23 PM

Some of the mentions:

Clark 1867 - "Rolling River" (title only, no mention of "S")

Riverside Mag. 1868 -
O, Shannydore*, I long to hear you!               
Away, you rollin' river!                                                               
O, Shannydore, I long to hear you!
Ah ha! I'm bound away, on the wild Atlantic!

later verse:
Then seven year I courted Sally:
An' seven more I could not get her….
(*footnote: "Shenandoah")

Once a Week 1968 - "Oceanida" (title only)

MacGahan 1876 -
Oh, Shanadoa, I longs to hear you
Ha! ha! the rolling water
Oh, Shanadoa, I longs to hear you
Ho! ho! the cold, pale water

later,
For seven long years I woo'd your daughter
For seven long years I woo'd your daughter.

Adams 1876 and 1879 -
Shannadore's a rolling river,
      Hurrah, you rolling river.
Oh, Shannadore's a rolling river.
      Ah hah, I'm bound away o'er the wild Missouri.

Shanadore's a packet sailor,
              
Shanadore's a bright mulatto,
               
Shanadore I long to hear you.

Scudder 1879 - [I have a suspicion this is related to the Riverside 1868 source]
pieces:
“Away, you rollin' river,”…
‘Aha! I'm bound A W A Y
    Across the broad Atlantic!’”

Keaton 1879 - "Ye rolling rivers" (title only)

Alden 1882 -
You Shanandore, I long to hear you.
Hurrah, you rollin' river!
You Shanandore, I long to hear you.
Ah, ha, you Shanandore.

For seven long years I courted Sally.
Hurrah, you rollin' river!
I courted Sally down in yon valley.
Ah, ha! I'm bound away on the wild Missouri.

Dixon 1883 -
The pawls of the windlass rattled merrily to “Shanandore, I love your daughter,” led by our “shanty-man,” the crew coming in on the chorus of “Hurrah, you rollin' river!”

to be continued...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 07 Oct 17 - 04:17 PM

....continued from last

Dixon 1883 - mentioned above, but can probably be discarded as he was probably copying Alden 1882
For seven long years I courted Sally.
Hurrah, you rollin' river!
I courted Sally down in yon valley
Ah, ha! I'm bound away on the wild Missouri.

New York Times, Jan. 1884 -
Shanadore is my native valley,
Hurrah, rolling river,
Shanadore I love your daughters,
Ah-ha, bound away 'cross the wild Missouri.

For seven long years I courted Sally,
Seven more and I could not get her,

Seven long years I was a 'Frisco trader,
Seven more I was a Texas ranger.

Davis and Tozer 1887 -
"The Wide Missouri"i
Oh, Polly Brown, I love your daughter,
Away my rolling river!
Polly Brown, I love your daughter,
Ah! Ah! we're bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri.

Russell 1889 - "Yon rolling River" (title only)
Russell 1892 - “Shanadoah”

Boyd 1899 - "Rolling River" (title only)

Jeffery 1900 -
Oh Shanadore, I love your daughter,
Away, you rolling river!
Oh Shanadore, I long to hear you,
Across the wild Missouri.

Lubbock 1902 -
"THE WIDE MISSOURI."
Oh, Shenadoah, I love your daughter,
Away, my rolling river!
Oh, Shenadoah, I long to hear you.
Ah! ah! We're bound away / 'Cross the wide Missouri!

Whitmarsh 1903 - "Shenandoah" (title only)

Bradford and Fagge 1904 - as in Lubbock 1902

Minster Singers of London gramophone recording, 1905 -
Labeled as "Shenandoah," it's a rendition of Bradford and Fagge

Nautical Magazine [Whall?] 1906 - "Shenandoah"
Whall/Yachting Monthly 1906 - "Shenandoah"

Gilchrist 1906 -
O, Shangadore, I love your daughter,
Aray, ye rolling river!
I love my grog much more than water,
Ah-ha-ha! I’m bound away,
‘Cross the wide Missouri.

Chamberlain 1907 -
Oh, twenty years I courted Sally,
Yo ho, ye rolling river!
And twenty more, but I didn't get her!
I'm bound away on the wild Atlantic.

Buryeson 1909 -
Shenandoah, I love your waters;
And away, you rolling river
I love your clear and rushing waters
Ah, ah, ah, we’re bound away, across the wide Missouri.

The ship sails free, a gale is blowing;
Her braces taut and sheet a-flowing.

Shenandoah, I love to hear you;
Shenandoah, I long to see you. etc

Whall 1910/1913/1920-
"Shenandoah"
Missouri she’s a mighty river.
Away you rolling river.
The redskins’ camp lie on its borders.
Ah-ha I’m bound away ‘cross the wide Missouri.

Bullen 1914 -
Shanandoh, I long ter hear ye;
A way, you rolling river;
Oh Shanandoh I can’t get near ye
Ha ha! I’m bound away on the wide Missouri!

to be continued....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 07 Oct 17 - 05:28 PM

So we don't know if it's concerned with Missouri or misery.

We can't be sure of the references to Shenandoah.

There isn't much to go on.

Don't tell me it's one of Jim's rural Irish compositions.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 08 Oct 17 - 03:35 AM

continued

Sharp 1914 (John Short) -
O Shanadar I love your daughter,
Hooray you rolling river.
Shanadar I love your daughter
Ha Ha, I’m bound away to the wild Missouri.

O seven years I courted Sally.

And seven more I couldn’t gain her.

She said I was a tarry sailor.

Farewell my dear I’m bound to leave you;
I’m bound away but will ne’er deceive you.

Sharp 1914 (James Thomas) -
Shanadar is a rolling river, E-o, I-o, E-o, I-o.

The Recollections of a West Indiaman, 1914-
"Shenandoah, I Love your Daughter"

Robinson 1917-
Shenandoah! I long to hear you—
Hurrah! you rolling river.
Oh, Shenandoah! I long to hear you—
And hurrah! we’re bound away!
On the wide Missouri!
...
Seven long years since I lost Dinah;
I've searched seven years. I cannot find her.

also, to Rolling River type tune:
Sally Brown's a bright Mulatto,
Way, yah!
Oh Sally Brown's a bright Mulatto--
Oh walk along, you Sally Brown.

Paine 1919-
Shenandoah, I'll ne'er forget you,
Away, ye rolling river,
Till the day I die I'll love you ever,
Ah, ha, we're bound away.

Terry 1920 (1921)-
Oh, Shenandore, I long to hear you
Away you rolling river;
Oh, Shenandore, I long to hear you,
Away I'm bound to go 'cross the wide Missouri.

Eckstorm 1927-
Heave her up from down below, boys!
Hooray, you rolling river!
Heave her up and let her go, boys!
Aha! Bound away o’er the wild Missouri.

Shenandore, I long to see you! X2

Shenandore! I love your daughter,
I love the roar of your rushing waters,

Carpenter recordings, late 1920s-
Oh Shenandoah, I'm going to leave you

Oh Shenandoah, I love your daughter

Shanadore, I long to hear you

Oh Shanadore, I love your daughter

Mackenzie 1928-
O if I had a dog I would call him Hunter,
Hooray, my rolling river!
O if I had a dog I would call him Hunter.
I’m bound away on the wild Missouri!

Doerflinger 1951-
Shanadore, I love your daughter,
Hooway, you rolling river,
Oh, Shanadore, I love your daughter,
Hyah, bound away, To the wild Missouri!

For seven long years I’ve courted your daughter.
Oh, Shanadore, I want to marry.

Fowke 1981-
Shenadore, I love your daughter;
Away you rolling River;
We’re bound for the green fields and the mossy river;
Ah, ha, ha, I’m bound away acrocc the wide Missouri.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Lighter
Date: 08 Oct 17 - 02:10 PM

Here are a few more.

Considering the appeal of the tune, and sometimes the words, the absence of the song from (generally small and selective) collections might suggest that it was not universally known in the 19th century.

R.C. Adams, 1879:

Shanadore's a rolling river,
Hurrah! you rolling river,
Shanadore's a rolling river,
   Ah Hah, I'm bound away,
   O'er the wild Missouri.

Shanadore's a packet sailor.

Shanadore's a bright mulatto,

Shanadore, I long to hear you.


Haswell, 1879: No mention.

Luce, 1883: No mention.

Pall Mall Gazette, 1896: No mention.

Bernard, 1906: No mention.

Williams, 1909: No mention.

Brown, 1917: Not mentioned.


Birge, 1917 [ref. to 1870s]:

Oh, Sharlo Brown, I love your daughter,
   Awa-a-a-ay my rolling river,
Oh, Sharlo Brown, I love your daughter,
   Ah! ah! we're bound awa-a-a-ay
   'Cross the wide Missouri.

Oh, Nancy Brown, I love you dearly,
My heart is yours, or very nearly.


Shay, 1924: Not mentioned.

C. F. Smith, 1927:

Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Away, my rolling river!
Oh Shenandoah, I can't get near you,
Way-ay, I'm boun away,
cross the wide Missouri.

Oh Shenandoah, I love your daughter!
She lives across the stormy water.

Oh Shenandoah, I've took a notion
To sail across the stormy ocean.

Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Oh. Shenandoah, I can't get near you.



Pilat, 1931:

Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Way-hay, you rolling river,
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Way-hay, we're bound away,
Oe'r the wide Missouri.

Missouri she's a mighty river,
She sets our topsails all a-quiver.

Oh, Shenandoah, I love your daughter,
She likes to do what she hadn't oughter.


Rutzebeck & Greenfield, 1969 [referring to ca1910]: Not mentioned.


Also in Colcord, Sampson, & Doerflinger.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: Lighter
Date: 08 Oct 17 - 02:11 PM

And Hugill, of course.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shanandoah fishermans friends version
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 16 Oct 17 - 05:06 PM

FT Life of a Song