Oh Shenandoah--跨越宽广的密苏里河

The Missouri River

Fishville's Notes: Oh Shenandoah is an American folk song we first heard from a recent dinner concert organized by our daughter's piano teacher. While the piano teacher was playing the piano, her husband was the vocal musician to sing this beautiful song. We the dinners were also invited to join the chorus.Both lyrics and melody were so well assembled that they could provide an answer for those who believed that America does not have that much of cultures. 

It seems Shenandoah was the name of an Indian chief whose daughter fell in love with a White settler. The place and origin of this song were not clear which make numerous institutions claim their associations with it. At one point the legislature of Virginia state even proposed an unsuccessful bill to make this song as the state song when the bill was passed in senate and killed by Virginia's house of representatives. The whole song never mentioned Virginia by name but always ended up with the phrase of "Across the wide Missouri." Two universities, Washington & Lee and Virginia Military Institute, used this song as their schools' theme musical as they constantly play it in choruses and games. 

However, it is undoubtedly saying that this song is probably a famous piece to be associated with Missouri. This time is more to the Missouri River which originates in North Dakota and joins Mississippi River in St. Louis where we live for more than twenty years. St. Louis as the joint place of Missouri and Mississippi Rivers is more similar to the home place of Wuhan City where Yangtze met Han River. As we always have to describe to layman folks back home in mainland on where Missouri is located, actually the best way to remember Missouri is that the brutal Sino-Japanese war was officially ended in America's battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay of 1945.

Here are the lyrics and a few links for you to enjoy:

Oh Shenandoah-A Cappella Version

Shenandoah-The American Tenors

Oh Shenandoah-The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Shenandoah-Sissel

The Lyrics of Oh Shenandoal (from Wikipedia.com):

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,

And hear your rolling river,

'Tis seven years since last I've seen you,

Away,we're bound away

Across the wide Missouri.

 
Oh Shenandoah,

I long to see you,

And hear your rolling river,

Oh Shenandoah,

I long to see you,

Away,we're bound away

Across the wide Missouri.