Oh Shenandoah

Program Note

There are few melodies as recognizable as that of the American folk song "Shenandoah." As with most folk songs, there are many different variations and versions, and it is impossible to determine the song's exact origin. It has commonly been sung as a sea shanty (also spelled chantey or chanty), though it most likely originated with early French Canadian fur traders.

Versions of the song have linked it to riverboat men, cavalry men, mountain men, and soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. Some use names, including Sally Brown, Polly Brown, Darby Doyle, Paddy Doyle, or Dan O'Shea, in place of the word Shenandoah.

In summing up the beauty and appeal of the song, John and Alan Lomax write in their book Best Loved American Folk Songs:

The melody has the roll and surge and freedom of a tall ship sweeping along before a trade wind. The sonorous succession of long vowels and soft and liquid consonants blend perfectly with the romantic air. The lines are a call from the homeland to the sailor wandering far out across the seas, a call not from a sweetheart, a house, or even a town, but from the land itself, its rivers and its familiar and loved hills.

"Shenandoah" was one of the most popular capstan shanties. Songs such as this set an appropriate, manageable pace and inspired the sailors to accomplish the task at hand, which could be quite long in duration.