"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" (also called "Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore", "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore", or "Michael, Row That Gospel Boat") is a traditionalspiritual first noted during theAmerican Civil War atSt. Helena Island, one of theSea Islands ofSouth Carolina.[1] The best-known recording was released in 1960 by the U.S. folk bandThe Highwaymen; that version briefly reached number-one hit status as a single in the United States in September 1961.
The song was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned the island before theUnion navy arrived to enforce a blockade.Charles Pickard Ware was anabolitionist andHarvard graduate who had come to supervise the plantations onSt. Helena Island from 1862 to 1865, and he wrote down the song in music notation as he heard thefreedmen sing it. Ware's cousinWilliam Francis Allen reported in 1863 that the formerly enslavedBlack Americans sang the song as they rowed him in a boat across Station Creek.[2]
The song was first published in 1867 inSlave Songs of the United States by Allen, Ware, andLucy McKim Garrison.[3] Folk musician and educatorTony Saletan rediscovered it in 1954 in a library copy of that book and introduced it into theAmerican folk music revival. The song is cataloged asRoud Folk Song Index No. 11975.
One of the oldest published versions of the song runs in a series of unrhymed couplets:[3]
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.
The same source attests another version in rhyme:[3]
Michael haul the boat ashore.
Then you'll hear the horn they blow.
Then you'll hear the trumpet sound.
Trumpet sound the world around.
Trumpet sound for rich and poor.
Trumpet sound the jubilee.
Trumpet sound for you and me.
This song originated in oral tradition, and there are many versions of the lyrics. It begins with the refrain, "Michael, row the boat ashore,Hallelujah." The lyrics describe crossing theRiver Jordan, as in these lines fromPete 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.[4]
Saletan's own version includes those lines, and these additional verses taken from the 1867 source:[5]
Michael, hear the trumpet sound, hallelujah,
Trumpet sound the world around, hallelujah.
Trumpet sound the Jubilee, hallelujah,
Trumpet sound for you and me, hallelujah.
The River Jordan was where Jesus wasbaptized and can be viewed as a metaphor for deliverance and salvation, but also as the boundary of thePromised Land, death, and the transition to Heaven.[6]
According toWilliam Francis Allen, the song refers to theArchangel Michael.[7] In theCatholic tradition, Michael is often regarded as apsychopomp or conductor of the souls of the dead.[8]
The spiritual was also recorded onJohns Island during the 1960s by American folk musician and musicologistGuy Carawan and his wife,Candie Carawan.Janie Hunter, former singer of theMoving Star Hall singers, noted that her father, son of former slaves, would sing the spiritual when he rowed his boat back to the shore after catching fish.[9]
Row, Michael, Row, Hallelujah,
Row, Michael, Row, Hallelujah,
Row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
See how we (do) the row, Hallelujah,
See how we the row, Hallelujah,
Let me tries me chance, Hallelujah,
Let me tries me chance, Hallelujah,
Jump in thejolly boat, Hallelujah,
Jump in the jolly boat, Hallelujah,
Just row Michael, row, Hallelujah,
Row the boat ashore, Hallelujah.
(repeated thus until end)
A similar version was collected by Guy Carawan on an unspecifiedSea Island.
Let me try my chance, Hallelujah,
Let me try my chance, Hallelujah,
Sister Mary try her chance, Hallelujah,
Sister Mary try her chance, Hallelujah,
Just let me try my chance, Hallelujah,
Just let me try my chance, Hallelujah,
Michael row your boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row your boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Sister Mary row your boat, Hallelujah,
Sister Mary row your boat, Hallelujah,
Everybody try a chance, Hallelujah
Everybody try a chance, Hallelujah
Oh just let me try my chance, Hallelujah
Oh just let me try my chance, Hallelujah
(repeated thus until end)
Following the September 1961 murder of localNAACP charter member Herbert Lee inAmite County, Mississippi,[10] – the same month that the Highwaymen's arrangement reached No. 1 on the hit parade – a version of "Michael" was among the songs that civil rights activists arrested for protesting the killing sang to keep their spirits up, led byHollis Watkins, according to a note smuggled out of the county jail byCOFO andSNCC leaderBob Moses:[11]
Michael row the boat ashore, Alleluia
Christian brothers don't be slow, Alleluia
Mississippi's next to go, Alleluia.
Harry Belafonte sang a rather different rendition on his 1962 albumMidnight Special which combines elements drawn from Christianity,American slavery, andCivil Rights Movement. The lyrics work their way through different parts of the Biblical narrative before concluding with the following verses:[12]
They nailed Jesus to the Cross, Hallelujah
But his faith was never lost, Hallelujah
So Christian soldiers off to war, Hallelujah
Hold that line in Arkansas, Hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Like Joshua at Jericho, Hallelujah
Alabama's next to go, Hallelujah
So Mississippi kneel and pray, Hallelujah
Some more buses on the way, Hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
| "Michael" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single byThe Highwaymen | ||||
| from the album The Highwaymen | ||||
| B-side | "Santiano" | |||
| Released | September 1960 (1960-09) | |||
| Recorded | June 1960 | |||
| Studio | Bell Sound Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Folk[13] | |||
| Length | 2:57 | |||
| Label | United Artists | |||
| Songwriters | Tony Saletan, traditional | |||
| Producer | Lou Adler | |||
| The Highwaymen singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The version of "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" that became a folk standard was adapted in 1954 by Boston folksinger, songfinder and teacherTony Saletan from the 1867 songbookSlave Songs of the United States. As Saletan later explained, "I judged that the tune was very singable, added some harmony (a guitar accompaniment) and thought the one-word chorus would be an easy hit with [younger singers]. But a typical original verse consisted of one line repeated once, and I thought a rhyme would be more interesting to the teenagers atShaker Village Work Camp, where I introduced it. So I adapted traditional African-American couplets in place of the original verses."[14] Saletan taught it toPete Seeger later that year.[15] Saletan himself never recorded the song,[16] but he can be heard singing it during a 2017 podcast interview.[17] Seeger taught it to the rest ofthe Weavers, who performed it at their Christmas Eve 1955 post-blacklist reunion concert.[15] A recording of that performance was released in 1957 on an album titledThe Weavers on Tour.[18] In the same year, folksingerBob Gibson included it on hisCarnegie Concert album.[19] Saletan shared a 1958 copyright in his adaptation with the members of the Weavers.[20] The Weavers included an arrangement inThe Weavers' Song Book, published in 1960. Similarly, Seeger included it in his 1961 songbook,American Favorite Ballads, with an attribution to Saletan.[21] An older, traditional version, titled "Row Michael Row," was later collected in theSea Islands by folkloristGuy Carawan.[22]
The American folk quintetthe Highwaymen had a #1 hit in 1961 on both thepop andeasy listening charts in the U.S. with their version, under the simpler title of "Michael", recorded and released in 1960. The Highwaymen's arrangement reached #1 for three weeks onTop 40 radio stationWABC inNew York City in August 1961,[23] and for two weeks in September 1961 onBillboard'sHot 100 nationally, remaining in the top ten into October.[24] This recording also went to #1 in the United Kingdom.[25]Billboard ranked the record as the No. 3 song of 1961.[26]
The Highwaymen version that went to #1 on the Billboard charts had these lyrics:
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
Sister help to trim the sail, hallelujah.
Sister help to trim the sail, hallelujah.
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
The River Jordan is chilly and cold, hallelujah.
Chills the body but not the soul, hallelujah.
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
The river is deep and the river is wide, hallelujah.
Milk and honey on the other side, hallelujah.
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
The recording begins and ends with one of the singers whistling the tunea cappella, later accompanied by simple instruments, in a slow, ballad style. All the Highwaymen sang and harmonized on the Michael lines but individual singers soloed for each set of additional lyrics. This version differs from the Pete Seeger/Tony Saletan version by changing "meet my mother on the other side" to "milk and honey on the other side." "Milk and honey" is a phrase used in theBook of Exodus duringMoses' vision of theburning bush, where the Promised Land is described as “…a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:8). The original Negro spiritual mentions the singer's mother but the hit version does not.Lonnie Donegan reached #6 in theUK Singles Chart with his cover version in 1961.Harry Belafonte recorded a popular version of it for his 1962Midnight Special album.Pete Seeger included it in hisChildren's Concert at Town Hall in 1963. Seeger also sang a solo version at a 1968Town Hall children's concert, recorded live and released onHarmony Records (#H30399, track B3), a budget label ofColumbia Records. Seeger likewise included "Michael" when he appeared as a guest onSesame Street in 1970, during the iconic children's television show's second season, using it to teachBig Bird the idea of a participatory sing-along. The same lesson was included when Seeger recorded a Sesame Street album forChildren's Television Workshop in 1974 withBrother Kirk.
Trini Lopez had a minor hit with it in 1964. The Israeli-French singerRika Zaraï also recorded a French version under the title "Michaël" in 1964. The African-American gospel/folk duoJoe & Eddie recorded it for their "Walking Down the Line" album in 1965.The Lennon Sisters recorded a version which was later featured as a bonus track on a CD re-release of their album "The Lennon Sisters Sing Great Hits".
The Carawans' recording from St. Johns Island of "Jane Hunter and three Moving Star Hall singers" of a traditional "Row, Michael, Row," was released bySmithsonian Folkways Records in 1967 on the album,Been in the Storm So Long.[27]
In the Jan 12, 1968 TV episode of Tarzan ("The Convert"), the song is performed by a trio of nuns arriving at an African village by canoe. The nuns were played by guest starsDiana Ross and the Supremes.
The song was recorded byThe Beach Boys for their 197615 Big Ones album but was left off the final running order.Brian Wilson rearranged the song, giving it a rich arrangement with sound similar to the many other covers recorded during this period, including a complex vocal arrangement.Mike Love sang lead vocals.Richard Jon Smith's version spent nine weeks in mid-1979 at #1 in South Africa.[28]
Being a well-documented song and publicised byEnglish Folk Dance and Song Society,[29] The Broadside Ballads Project,[30] and Mainly Norfolk,[31] the song was recorded byJon Boden andOli Steadman for inclusion in their respective lists of daily folk songs "A Folk Song A Day"[32] and "365 Days Of Folk".[33]
The counselors sing the song, along with"Down in the Valley" in the opening scene of the 1980 horror film,Friday the 13th.
A German version is "Michael, bring dein Boot an Land" by Ronny (de). A German gospel version is "Hört, wen Jesus glücklich preist" (A song of theBeatitudes). The German disco groupDschinghis Khan recorded a version of it in 1981.
The Smothers Brothers did a fairly straightforward version of the song on their albumIt Must Have Been Something I Said!, before turning it into a comic sing-along onGolden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2 (which is also included on their albumSibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers).
Sule Greg Wilson produced a version based uponAllen/Ware/Garrison, as well as Row, Michael Row, by Jane Hunter and Moving Star Hall singers. The Wilson version featuresTuscarora vocalistPura Fé (with Wilson on instruments and background vocals). It was used for the end credits ofThe Librarian and the Banjo, Jim Carrier's 2013 film onDena Epstein, author of the book,Sinful Tunes and Spirituals.
Greg & Steve appropriated the Saletan tune and substituted original lyrics for their song, "A Man Named King," on their 1989Holidays & Special Times album.
Raffi sings this song on his 1994Bananaphone album.
Peter, Paul and Mary included it on their 1998Around the Campfire album.
The melody, as adapted by Saletan in 1954, was also appropriated for use in a hymn entitledGlory Be to God on High.[34]
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