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"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known British song, the origin of which dates back to the Seven Years' War. Its name describes a country bumpkin, incautious in personal habits. It has been widely adopted in the United States and is often sung patriotically today. It is the state anthem of Connecticut.

The first verse and refrain, as often sung today, run thus:

Yankee Doodle went to town,
A-Riding on a pony;
He stuck a feather in his cap,
And called it macaroni.

The song's origins were in a pre-Revolutionary War song originally by British military officers to mock the dishevelled, disorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War. The word doodle first appeared in the early seventeenth century to mean a fool or simpleton, and is thought to derive from the Low German dudel or dödel, meaning "fool" or "simpleton". It is believed that the tune comes from the nursery rhyme Lucy Locket. 'Macaroni' was a contemporary slang for foppishness; in other words, the Yankees were being mocked for the idea that they thought simply sticking a feather in a cap could make them the height of fashion. One version of the Yankee Doodle lyrics is attributed to Doctor Richard Shuckburgh, a British Army surgeon, who wrote the song after witnessing the unprofessional appearance of Colonel Thomas Fitch, Jr., the son of Connecticut Governor Thomas Fitch, who arrived in Albany in 1755 with the Connecticut militia.

The Boston Journal of the Times wrote about a British band declaring "that Yankee Doodle song was the Capital Piece of their band music."

A full version of the song, as it is known today, goes:

Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni'.
Chorus:
Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.
Fath'r and I went down to camp,
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we saw the men and boys
As thick as hasty puddin'.
Chorus
And there we saw a thousand men
As rich as Squire David,
And what they wasted every day,
I wish it could be saved.
Chorus
The 'lasses they eat it every day,
Would keep a house a winter;
They have so much, that I'll be bound,
They eat it when they've mind ter.
Chorus
And there I see a swamping gun
Large as a log of maple,
Upon a deuced little cart,
A load for father's cattle.
Chorus
And every time they shoot it off,
It takes a horn of powder,
and makes a noise like father's gun,
Only a nation louder.
Chorus
I went as nigh to one myself
As 'Siah's inderpinning;
And father went as nigh again,
I thought the deuce was in him.
Chorus
Cousin Simon grew so bold,
I thought he would have cocked it;
It scared me so I shrinked it off
And hung by father's pocket.
Chorus
And Cap'n Davis had a gun,
He kind of clapt his hand on't
And stuck a crooked stabbing iron
Upon the little end on't
Chorus
And there I see a pumpkin shell
As big as mother's bason,
And every time they touched it off
They scampered like the nation.
Chorus
I see a little barrel too,
The heads were made of leather;
They knocked on it with little clubs
And called the folks together.
Chorus
And there was Cap'n Washington,
And gentle folks about him;
They say he's grown so 'tarnal proud
He will not ride without em'.
Chorus
He got him on his meeting clothes,
Upon a slapping stallion;
He sat the world along in rows,
In hundreds and in millions.
Chorus
The flaming ribbons in his hat,
They looked so tearing fine, ah,
I wanted dreadfully to get
To give to my Jemima.
Chorus
I see another snarl of men
A digging graves they told me,
So 'tarnal long, so 'tarnal deep,
They 'tended they should hold me.
Chorus
It scared me so, I hooked it off,
Nor stopped, as I remember,
Nor turned about till I got home,
Locked up in mother's chamber.
Chorus

During the American Civil War, Southerners added some new lines of their own:

Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his hat
And called it macaroni.
Chorus:
Yankee Doodle, keep it up
Yankee Doodle dandy
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy.
Father and I went down to camp
Along with Captain Gooding
And there were all the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.
Chorus
There was Captain Washington
Upon a slapping stallion
A-giving orders to his men
I guess there was a million.
Chorus

The Voice of America begins and ends all broadcasts with the interval signal of "Yankee Doodle".
The Spirit of '76 (previously known as Yankee Doodle) is the most famous painting by Archibald MacNeal Willard.
A variation of the song appears in the 1904 musical Little Johnny Jones by George M. Cohan.
The song featured in a famous sequence in the 1942 James Cagney film, Yankee Doodle Dandy.
This song's title was used as a title for the 1943 Tom and Jerry cartoon The Yankee Doodle Mouse.
The theme songs of the 1960s TV cartoon series Roger Ramjet and the children's TV show Barney & Friends (along with its video series predecessor, Barney and the Backyard Gang) are sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle. The kids on Roger Ramjet are named Yank, Doodle, Dan, and Dee. The original was also sung on Barney & Friends in the 1992 episode Alphabet Soup.
Caroline Kennedy's pony, Macaroni, was a present from Lyndon Johnson.
One sketch in a 1970s episode of Sesame Street features Kermit the Frog reporting on Don Music's attempt to "write" Yankee Doodle, with both finding special trouble with the line "and called it macaroni".
A 1990's commercial for the popular Magna Doodle toy was released and was sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
In the musical Paint Your Wagon, the "Shivaree" concerning Ben Rumson's impending arranged marriage inspired a variation.
In America Sings, a Disneyland attraction made for the American Bicentennial, "Yankee Doodle" (with new lyrics) acts as a transition song between each scene with these lyrics, sung by a Bald Eagle named Sam, voiced by Burl Ives.
At the conclusion of the 1981 Wimbledon Championships, in which American tennis star John McEnroe had defeated his long-time rival Björn Borg, TV commentator Bud Collins took note of the July 4th holiday and also McEnroe's red-white-and-blue attire, and quipped "Stick a feather in his cap and call him 'McEnroe-ni'!"
In the 9th episode of season 2 of Country Fried Home Videos on CMT "Handini" is shown playing the song on "The Hands".
On The Alvin Show episode with the song "Yankee Doodle," Alvin sings the last line as "and called it spaghetti."
Ned Land, a character from the book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, is said to have whistled the song.
Henri Vieuxtemps, a violinist-composer, wrote 'Souvenir D'Amerique "Yankee Doodle"', Variations Burlesques for Violin and Piano.
Sung on Full House on the episode The Play's The Thing in which Michelle tries out for the part of Yankee Doodle in her first grade play.
A short instrumental clip featured in the "Baby June And Her News Boys" number in the stage musical "Gypsy".
Glasgow Celtic fans chant the words 'Glasgow Celtic Champions Oh Oh Oh' to the tune.
The videogame Fallout 3 features a sound bite of an instrumental version of the song on one of the games "radio stations."
Kidsongs recorded a contemporary version of "Yankee Doodle Boy" for children in 1986.
Bob Dylan open his July 4, 2009 concert at Coveleski Stadium in South Bend, Indiana with "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

"Oh Shenandoah" (also called simply "Shenandoah") is an American folk song, dating to the early 19th century.

The lyrics may tell the story of a roving trader in love with the daughter of an Indian chief; in this interpretation, the rover tells the chief of his intent to take the girl with him far to the west, across the Missouri River. Other interpretations tell of a pioneer's nostalgia for the Shenandoah River Valley in Virginia, and a young woman who is its daughter; or of a Union soldier in the American Civil War, dreaming of his country home to the west of the Missouri river, in Shenandoah, Iowa (though the town lies some 50 miles east of the river). The provenance of the song is unclear.

The song is also associated with escaped slaves. They were said to sing the song in gratitude because the river allowed their scent to be lost.

The Shenandoah area made many parts like wheels and seats for wagons going west. These parts were assembled in Conestoga Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and settlers set out in Conestoga wagons down the Ohio River, on the Mississippi and west up the Missouri River. Lyrics were undoubtedly added by rivermen, settlers, and the millions who went west.

With possible origins in Virginia, noting that its title is also the name of a Virginia river, the song has been considered for Virginia's official state song.[citation needed]

In his 1931 book on sea and river chanteys entitled Capstan Bars, David Bone wrote that "Oh Shenandoah" originated as a river shanty and then became popular with sea-going crews in the early 1800s.[citation needed]

The Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton noted in 2005 that Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham immortalized the jolly flatboatmen who plied the Missouri River in the early 1800s; these same flatboatmen were known for their chanties, including the haunting "Oh Shenandoah". This boatmen's song found its way down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to the American clipper ships, and thus around the world.

Covers:
Paul Robeson on multiple recordings including Ballads for Americans, The Essential Paul Robeson, Spirituals, Folksongs & Hymns
Mickey Newbury on multiple recordings including Live in England,
Mormon Tabernacle Choir on multiple recordings including America's Choir, Choral Adagios, Essential Choral Classics.
Jo Stafford on American Folk Songs (Corinthian, 1950)
Bing Crosby on How the West Was Won (Bing Crosby album) (RCA Records, 1959)
Harry Belafonte on Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (RCA Records, 1959)
Michael Holliday on "Hi!" (EMI Columbia, 1957)
Michael Landon on Bonanza: Ponderosa Party Time (RCA, 1962)
The Statler Brothers on Big Country Hits (Columbia, 1967)
The King's Singers on The King's Singers: Original Debut Recording (1971)
Tennessee Ernie Ford on The Folk Album (Capitol, 1971)
Hannes Wader on Hannes Wader Singt Shanties (1978)
Thin Lizzy as a part of the title medley on Black Rose: A Rock Legend (1979)
Bob Dylan on Down in the Groove (1988)
Small Potatoes on RAW (1993)
Arlo Guthrie on Son of the Wind (Rising Son, 1994)
Glen Campbell on The Artistry of Glen Campbell (Capitol, 1972) or The Essential Glen Campbell Volume One (Capitol CDP-33288, 1994)
Bill Frisell on Good Dog, Happy Man (Nonesuch, 1999)
Keith Jarrett on The Melody At Night, With You (ECM, 1999)
Nathan Gunn on American Anthem (EMI, 1999)
Shusha on Shusha / This is the day (Bgocd531, 2001)
Sissel Kyrkjebø with The Chieftains on Sissel (Decca, 2002)
David Daniels on A quiet thing (Virgin Classics 724354560025, 2003)
Richard Thompson on 1000 Years of Popular Music (Beeswing, 2003)
Roger McGuinn on Limited Edition (April First Productions, 2004)
Archibald Asparagus on VeggieTales: Bob and Larry's Campfire Songs (Big Idea, 2004)
Judy Garland on That Old Feeling - Classic Ballads from the Judy Garland Show (Savoy Jazz label, 2005)
Allan Holdsworth on Against The Clock - The Essential (2005)
The Corries on Flower of Scotland (Moidart, 2006)
Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band on We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (Columbia, 2006)
Land of Lakes Choirboys on The Voice of the Children (2007)
Van Morrison with The Chieftains on The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3 (Manhattan/EMI, 2007)
Hayley Westenra on Celtic Treasure (Decca B000MTDRJA, 2007)
Bryn Terfel on A Song in my Heart (UCJ, 2007)
Bread and Roses, an American Folk Punk band, on Deep River Day (Fistolo, 2007)
Michigan State University Children's Choir, the Grammy Award-winning youth choir associated with Michigan State University, on "America the Beautiful: Songs of Our Heritage"
Tyler James on Sweet Relief (Son of Geert Music, 2007)
Charlie Haden on Rambling Boy (DECCA, 2008)
Trampled By Turtles Feat. Rich Mattson on Duluth (Banjodad, 2008)

Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away you rolling river,
Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Away, I'm bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri.
Oh Shenandoah,
I love your daughter,
Away you rolling river,
I'll take her 'cross
Your rollin' water,
Away, I'm bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri.
'Tis seven years,
I've been a rover,
Away you rolling river,
When I return,
I'll be your lover,
Away, I'm bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri.
Oh Shenandoah,
I'm bound to leave you.
Away you rolling river,
Oh Shenandoah,
I'll not deceive you.
Away, I'm bound away
'Cross the wide Missouri.

"Man of Constant Sorrow" is a traditional American folk song first recorded by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally recorded by Burnett as "Farewell Song" printed in a Richard Burnett songbook, c. 1913. An early version was recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928 (Vocalion Vo 5208).

The song was recorded in 1928 by Emry Arthur.
It was popularized by the Stanley Brothers, who recorded it for Columbia Records in 1951.
A version of the song, "Girl of Constant Sorrow", was on the album "Joan Baez", recorded in the very early 1960s on the Vanguard label.
Recorded by Roscoe Holcomb (Daisy Kentucky) in 1961–1962 with an arrangement more like Dylan's than that of the Stanleys.(Music of Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward,Smithsonian Folkways, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.)
It appears on Bob Dylan's 1962 eponymous debut album and Dylan performed the song during his first national television appearance in 1963.
In their 1962 self-titled debut album Peter, Paul and Mary recorded another version as "Sorrow."
Judy Collins's 1961 debut album, Maid of Constant Sorrow, took its name from a variant of the song that was performed on the album.
It was recorded by Waylon Jennings on his 1966 major-label debut Folk-Country.
Rod Stewart performed the song on his debut solo album in 1969.
It was also recorded by Ginger Baker's Air Force on their eponymous debut album in 1970, sung by Air Force guitarist and vocalist (and former Moody Blues, future Wings member) Denny Laine. The band used the same melody, and for the most part the same lyrics (but substituted 'Birmingham' for 'Colorado'). The arrangement differed, though, as this was a loosely improvised live version, with violin and saxophones, that stays very much in the major scales of A, D and E, unlike its future bluesier brethren. It was the only band single; it charted #36 on the U.S. country charts and #86 in UK.
An a capella version appears on The Dillards' 1972 LP Roots and Branches.
"Man of Constant Sorrow" was one of many songs recorded by Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, and Tony Rice one weekend in February 1993. Jerry's taped copy of the session was later stolen by his pizza delivery man, eventually became an underground classic, and finally edited and released in 2000 as The Pizza Tapes. Jerry Garcia also sang an a cappella version on June 11, 1962, at the Jewish Community Center in San Carlos, California, with the Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers, his bluegrass band at the time, whom Garcia 'renamed' throughout the performance several times, including at one point calling them "The Slugs." Though unreleased, it has been widely circulated among 'traders' at least since the 1980s.
Jackson Browne and Irish accordionist Sharon Shannon recorded their version of the song in 2000. It also appeared in Shannon's album The Diamond Mountain Sessions.

The "Soggy Bottom Boys" singing Man of Constant Sorrow in O Brother, Where Art Thou?The song appears in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, under the title "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow." Performed by the fictitious Soggy Bottom Boys in the movie, it was recorded by Dan Tyminski, Harley Allen, and Pat Enright. It was a hit in the movie for the Soggy Bottom Boys and later became a hit single in real life. It received a CMA for "Single of the Year" and a Grammy for "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals" and it peaked at #35 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. Dan Tyminski performed this song at the Crossroads Guitar Festival with Ron Block and live with Alison Krauss. The versions by Dylan and Soggy Bottom Boys use somewhat different arrangements and while the lyrics have many similarities, they are by no means identical. The Soggy Bottom Boys said goodbye to "old Kentucky," as the original versions do, while in Dylan's version the singer said goodbye to "Colorado."
A version entitled "Soul of Constant Sorrow" appears on the 2001 album Mountain Soul by country singer Patty Loveless.
Canadian hard rock group Tin Foil Phoenix reimagined the song into a more rock-based style. It was later released on their 2007 second album Age of Vipers as a bonus track.
In 2003, musicians Skeewiff remixed "Man of Constant Sorrow." The song was so popular in Australia that it featured at #96 in the Triple J's hottest 100 songs of 2003. That same year, the O Brother Where Art Thou? version of the song ranked #20 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.
The Brooklyn-based country-hip-hop band Battlestar recorded a version of the song on their 2002 album Above Market Value.
Osaka Popstar recorded a punk rock cover of this song for their debut album Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk.
Demented Scumcats - English psychobilly band in their album called Splatter Baby released in 2005.
Chris Daughtry's band Absent Element performed a rock version live during Chris's homecoming in Greensboro, North Carolina on June 3, 2006.
In 2007, artists Kraak and Smaak included a remix of "Man of Constant Sorrow" originally recorded by Skeewiff, on their album The Remix Sessions.
In Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, Susannah Dean sings the song (replacing 'man' with 'maid') during their visit to the Calla in Wolves of the Calla. In the following book, Song of Susannah, when the possessing spirit Mia takes control of Susannah and brings her to the New York City of 1999, a street performer playing the song gives Mia pause, allowing Susannah to leave a valuable artifact behind for her allies, who are in pursuit, while Mia is distracted.
The folk group Donna the Buffalo did a reggae-influenced cover on their album Positive Friction.

Wow, Electra.
I know you said in another thread that you enjoy researching stuff, but I had no idea the extent of your super-powers!

David might have to do a series of books to use all you've found. :lol:

"Silent Night" (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht were written in German by the Austrian priest Father Josef Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. In 1859, John Freeman Young published the English translation that is most frequently sung today. The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain.

The carol was first performed in the Nikolaus-Kirche (Church of St. Nicholas) in Oberndorf, Austria on December 24, 1818. Mohr had composed the words much earlier, in 1816, but on Christmas Eve brought them to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service.

In his written account regarding the composition of the carol, Gruber gives no mention of the specific inspiration for creating the song. According to the song's history provided by Austria's Silent Night Society, one supposition is that the church organ was no longer working so that Mohr and Gruber therefore created a song for accompaniment by guitar. Silent Night historian, Renate Ebeling-Winkler says that the first mention of a broken organ was in a book published in the U.S. in 1909.

Some historians believe that Mohr simply wanted a new Christmas carol that he could play on his guitar. The Silent Night Society says that there are "many romantic stories and legends" that add their own anecdotal details to the known facts.

Silent Night Museum and Memorial Chapel in OberndorfThe Nikolaus-Kirche was demolished in the early 1900s due to flood damage and because the town's center was moved up the river to a safer location, with a new church being built there close to the new bridge. A tiny chapel, called the "Stille-Nacht-Gedächtniskapelle" (Silent Night Memorial Chapel), was built in the place of the demolished church and a nearby house was converted into a museum, attracting tourists from all over the world, not only but primarily in December.

The original manuscript has been lost. However a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers at ca. 1820. It shows that Mohr wrote the words in 1816 when he was assigned to a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria, and shows that the music was composed by Gruber in 1818. This is the earliest manuscript that exists and the only one in Mohr's handwriting. Gruber's composition was influenced by the musical tradition of his rural domicile. The melody of "Silent Night" bears resemblance to aspects of Austrian folk music and yodelling.

Another popular story claims that the carol, once performed, was promptly forgotten until an organ repairman found the manuscript in 1825 and revived it. However, Gruber published various arrangements of it throughout his lifetime and we now have the Mohr arrangement (ca. 1820) that is kept at the Museum Carolino Augusteum in Salzburg.

The carol has been translated into over 44 languages. It is sometimes sung without musical accompaniment. Although written by Catholics, it is given special significance in Lutheranism.[citation needed]

The song was sung simultaneously in English and German by troops during the Christmas truce of 1914, as it was one of the few carols that soldiers on both sides of the front line knew.

The song has been recorded by over 300 artists, particularly successful in hit versions by Enya, Stevie Nicks, Bing Crosby and Mahalia Jackson, and an instrumental version by Mannheim Steamroller. Simon and Garfunkel recorded an ironic version of the song in which a depressing radio news report is overheard in the background. There have also been choral recordings by the King's College Choir and the Vienna Boys Choir.

In 1943 the Austrian exile Hertha Pauli wrote the book "Silent Night. A Story of a Song", in which she explained to American children the origin of the song. The book was illustrated by Fritz Kredel and published by Alfred A. Knopf.

A 1988 dramatised television documentary called Silent Mouse tells the story of the creation of the carol from a mouse's point of view. It featured Lynn Redgrave as narrator, and Gregor Fisher in one of the leading roles.

"This Little Light of Mine" is a gospel children's song written by Harry Dixon Loes (1895-1965) in about 1920. Loes, who studied at the Moody Bible Institute and the American Conservatory of Music, was a musical composer, and teacher, who wrote, and co-wrote, several other gospel songs. The song has since entered the folk tradition, first being collected by John Lomax in 1939. Often thought of as a Negro spiritual, it does not, however, appear in any collection of jubilee or plantation songs from the nineteenth century:

This little light o' mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
This little light o' mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
This little light o' mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Depending on the source, the song may take its theme from Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heaven." Or, it may refer to the words of Jesus in Luke 11:33, where he said, "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light." Or, it may be based on Matthew 5:14-15, where Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." It has often been published with a set of hand movements to be used for the instruction of children.

Under the influence of Zilphia Horton, Fannie Lou Hamer and others it eventually became a Civil Rights anthem in the 1950s and 1960s. The Seekers recorded it for their second UK album, Hide & Seekers (also known as The Four & Only Seekers) in 1964. Over time it also became a very popular children's song, recorded and performed by the likes of Raffi in the 1980s.

"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" (or "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore") is an African-American spiritual. It was first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina.

It was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned the island before the Union navy would arrive to enforce a blockade. Charles Pickard Ware, an abolitionist and Harvard graduate who had come to supervise the plantations on St. Helena Island from 1862 to 1865, wrote the song down in music notation as he heard the freedmen sing it. Ware's cousin, William Francis Allen reported in 1863 that while he rode in a boat across Station Creek, the former slaves sang the song as they rowed.

The song was first published in Slave Songs of the United States, by Allen, Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, in 1867.

The oldest published version of the song runs in a series of unrhymed couplets:

Michael row de boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael boat a gospel boat, Hallelujah!
I wonder where my mudder deh (there).
See my mudder on de rock gwine home.
On de rock gwine home in Jesus' name.
Michael boat a music boat.
Gabriel blow de trumpet horn.
O you mind your boastin' talk.
Boastin' talk will sink your soul.
Brudder, lend a helpin' hand.
Sister, help for trim dat boat.
Jordan stream is wide and deep.
Jesus stand on t' oder side.
I wonder if my maussa deh.
My fader gone to unknown land.
O de Lord he plant his garden deh.
He raise de fruit for you to eat.
He dat eat shall neber die.
When de riber overflow.
O poor sinner, how you land?
Riber run and darkness comin'.
Sinner row to save your soul.
or
Michel, row the boat a-shore
Hallelujah!
Then you'll here the trumpet blow
Hallelujah!
Then you'll hear the trumpet sound,
Hallelujah!
Trumpet sound the world around
Hallelujah!
Trumpet sound the jubilee
Hallelujah!
Trumpet sound for you and me
Hallelujah!
As this song originated in oral tradition, there are many versions of the lyrics. It begins with the refrain, "Michael, row the boat ashore, Hallelujah." The lyrics describe crossing the River Jordan, as in these lines from Pete Seeger's version:

Jordan's river is deep and wide, hallelujah.
Meet my mother on the other side, hallelujah.
Jordan's river is chilly and cold, hallelujah.
Chills the body, but not the soul, hallelujah.
The River Jordan can be viewed as a metaphor for death. According to Allen, the song refers to the Archangel Michael. In Christian tradition, Michael is often regarded as a psychopomp, or conductor of the souls of the dead.

Covers:
The Smothers Brothers did a fairly straightforward version of the song on their album It Must Have Been Something I Said!, before turning it into a comic sing-along on Golden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2 (which is also included on their album Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers.
In an episode of Wings, cab driver Antonio Scarpacci (Tony Shalhoub) decides to supplement his income by gathering donations for singing the song (the only song he knows), while strumming his guitar, to the audience at the airport. The average passenger only hears it once or twice, but café manager Helen Chappel (Crystal Bernard) puts up with "Michael... rowin' that boat ashore for two freakin' days!" before finally snapping and attacking Antonio with his own guitar.
In "Faith Off", a Season 11 episode of The Simpsons, Reverend Lovejoy plays the song on an electric guitar to win back his flock.
In "Brain Age 2", it is one of the songs you must play on the piano.
Christian singer Michael Roe once titled an album Michael Roe: The Boat Ashore
In the television show Freaks and Geeks, during the episode "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers", the first portions of the song are sung in the cafeteria by Nick (Jason Segel), Daniel (James Franco) and Ken (Seth Rogen) before they're interrupted by a teacher.
In "In the Can", a Season 2 episode of Ballykissangel, the parish priest, Father MacAnally, permits his curate, Father Clifford, to stage a folk mass, but only if "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" is not part of the program. Father Clifford agrees, but when Father MacAnally arrives for the service, the song is sung with gusto by the congregation, and Father Clifford shrugs in guilty amusement.
In the television show Boston Legal, during the episode "The Nutcrackers", the first portions of the song are sung in court by two girls from a white supremist family, before they are interrupted by Alan Shore (James Spader), their lawyer, who informs them that Michael was a gay Jew from Mexico.

"Broke And Hungry" was written by Blind Lemon Jefferson (1893 - 1929) sometime in the 1910's or 1920's, but was not recorded by him until 1926 -1929. There is very little information available about "Broke And Hungry". Jefferson died in 1929, which means that his work became public domain in 1999, seventy years after his death. The following is what I found searching the Library of Congress.

DATABASE: Library of Congress Online Catalog
YOU SEARCHED: Title Keyword = Broke And Hungry
Relevance:
LC Control No.: 94747997
LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/94747997
Type of Material: Music Sound Recording
Contents: That crawlin' baby blues
Bad luck blues
Matchbox blues
Hot dogs
One dime blues
Shuckin' sugar
Rabbit foot blues
Corrina blues
See that my grave is kept clean
Easy rider blues
Broke and hungry
Black horse blues
Lonesome house blues
Oil well blues
He arose from the dead
Beggin' back
Prison cell blues
Rambler blues
Gone dead on you blues
Wartime blues
Booger rooger blues
Right of way blues
Big night blues.
Subjects: Blues (Music) --To 1931.
LC Classification: Yazoo 1069

Relevance:
LC Control No.: 94747997
LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/94747997
Type of Material: Music Sound Recording
Personal Name: Jefferson, Blind Lemon, 1897-1929. prf
Main Title: King of the country blues [sound recording] / Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Published/Created: Newton, N.J. : Yazoo, p1990.
Description: 1 sound disc : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
UPC/EAN: 1635101692
Publisher No.: 1069 Yazoo
Contents: That crawlin' baby blues -- Bad luck blues -- Matchbox blues -- Hot dogs -- One dime blues -- Shuckin' sugar -- Rabbit foot blues -- Corrina blues -- See that my grave is kept clean -- Easy rider blues -- Broke and hungry -- Black horse blues -- Lonesome house blues -- Oil well blues -- He arose from the dead -- Beggin' back -- Prison cell blues -- Rambler blues -- Gone dead on you blues -- Wartime blues -- Booger rooger blues -- Right of way blues -- Big night blues.
Notes: Blues.
Previously released as 78-rpm discs.
Compact disc.
Biographical and program notes by Stephen Calt ([12] p. : ill.) inserted in container.
Recorded from 1926 to 1929.
Performer: Blind Lemon Jefferson, vocals and guitar.
Subjects: Blues (Music) --To 1931.
LC Classification: Yazoo 1069
Language Code: eng eng
Other System No.: (OCoLC)26065128
Quality Code: lccopycat

Relevance:
LC Control No.: 94747997
LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/94747997
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001 5707001
005 19940630161150.9
007 sduzmnznnmmneu
008 920623r1990 njubln f eng d
035 __ |9 (DLC) 94747997
906 __ |a 7 |b cbc |c copycat |d 3 |e ncip |f 19 |g y-genmusic
955 __ |a ns33
010 __ |a 94747997
024 1_ |a 1635101692
028 02 |a 1069 |b Yazoo
033 20 |a 1926---- |a 1929----
035 __ |a (OCoLC)26065128
040 __ |a NcDur |c NcDur |d MNS |d OCoLC |d DLC
041 0_ |d eng |g eng
042 __ |a lccopycat
048 __ |a vn01 |a tb01
050 00 |a Yazoo 1069
100 1_ |a Jefferson, Blind Lemon, |d 1897-1929. |4 prf
245 10 |a King of the country blues |h [sound recording] / |c Blind Lemon Jefferson.
260 __ |a Newton, N.J. : |b Yazoo, |c p1990.
300 __ |a 1 sound disc : |b digital ; |c 4 3/4 in.
500 __ |a Blues.
511 0_ |a Blind Lemon Jefferson, vocals and guitar.
518 __ |a Recorded from 1926 to 1929.
500 __ |a Previously released as 78-rpm discs.
500 __ |a Compact disc.
500 __ |a Biographical and program notes by Stephen Calt ([12] p. : ill.) inserted in container.
505 0_ |a That crawlin' baby blues -- Bad luck blues -- Matchbox blues -- Hot dogs -- One dime blues -- Shuckin' sugar -- Rabbit foot blues -- Corrina blues -- See that my grave is kept clean -- Easy rider blues -- Broke and hungry -- Black horse blues -- Lonesome house blues -- Oil well blues -- He arose from the dead -- Beggin' back -- Prison cell blues -- Rambler blues -- Gone dead on you blues -- Wartime blues -- Booger rooger blues -- Right of way blues -- Big night blues.
650 _0 |a Blues (Music) |y To 1931.
953 __ |a TA28
991 __ |b c-RecSound |h Yazoo 1069 |w MUSIC

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CALL NUMBER: Yazoo 1069
-- Request in: Request in advance in Rec Sound Ref Center (Madison, LM113)

-- Status: Not Charged

Just thought of another song that might be in the public domain . . .
a Shirley Temple special . . . Polly Wolly Doodle All Day.
I'm in the process of finding the chords now . . . and thought I'd mention it before the idea succumbs to a bout of Alzheimer's

not sure bout this but John Barleycorn Must Die may be in PD. Think Traffic version.

not sure bout this but John Barleycorn Must Die may be in PD. Think Traffic version.

Got it! It's on the list!

And, just where have you been? I haven't seen you around here in MONTHS! I was about to put out an APB! :D Anyway, glad you're back! :D

WOW...I'm glad someone misses me. True I havent been around in a while but I'm going to try to keep up with this site again. I miss it here. Like your new pic, too. :P :P :P

WOW...I'm glad someone misses me. True I havent been around in a while but I'm going to try to keep up with this site again. I miss it here. Like your new pic, too. :P :P :P

Thanks, but now that Halloween is over I need to change it!

"Greenland Whale Fisheries" is a traditional sea shanty. In most of the versions collected from oral sources, the song opens up giving a date for the events that it describes (usually between 1823 and 1853). However, the song is actually older than this and a form of it was published as a ballad before 1725.

The song tells of a whaling expedition that leaves for Greenland. The lookout spots a "whalefish", and harpoon boats are launched. However, the whale strikes the boat with its tail, capsizing it, and several men are killed. The captain grieves over losing his prey, but especially for having lost his men. He then orders the ship to sail for home, calling Greenland a "dreadful place."

Like most traditional songs, "Greenland Whale Fisheries" exists in different versions. Some change details (such as the date of the expedition), and others add or remove verses. Perhaps due to the wide influence of Moby-Dick, some modern versions, including the one recorded by The Pogues for their album Red Roses for Me, flip the captain's expression of grief to make him regret losing his catch even more than losing his crew.

In the version popularized by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and Mary, a shanty recorded by Alan Lomax from a Barbadian fisherman is appended, which begins, "When the whale gets strike, and the line run down, and the whale makes a flunder with her tail..."

A stanza was also sung "un-drunkenly" by Bender the robot, in the Futurama episode "The Bird-Bot Of Ice-Catraz", as Bender grieved that his best friend Fry no longer respected him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Greenland_Fisheries.ogg (I hope this works! It's supposed to be the music! But, in case it doesn't, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_Whale_Fisheries )