Tennessee Ernie Ford – Shenandoah

“Oh Shenandoah” (also called simply “Shenandoah” or “Across the Wide Missouri”) is a traditional American folk song of uncertain origin, dating to the early 19th century.

The song appears to have originated with Canadian and US voyageurs or fur traders traveling down the Missouri River in canoes, and has developed several different sets of lyrics. Some lyrics refer to the Oneida chief Shenandoah and a canoe-going trader who wants to marry his daughter. By the mid 1800s versions of the song had become a sea shanty heard or sung by sailors in various parts of the world.

The song is number 324 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

Tennessee Ernie Ford include the song on Shenandoah (Red Door Productions, 1959) and The Folk Album (Capitol, 1971)

Lyrics to “Oh Shenandoah” as sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford (1959):

Oh Shenandoah, I hear you calling,
Hi-o, you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Hi-o, I’m bound away.
‘Cross the wide, Mis-sou-ri.
Mis-sou-ri, She’s a mighty river,
Hi-o, you rolling river.
When she rolls down, her topsails shiver,
Hi-o, I’m bound away,
‘Cross the wide, Mis-sou-ri.
Farewell my dearest, I’m bound to leave you,
Hi-o, you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah, I’ll not deceive you,
Hi-o, I’m bound away.
‘Cross the wide Mis-sou-ri.