Ol' Man River
"Ol' Man River" (music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) is a show tune from the 1927[1] musical Show Boat that contrasts the struggles and hardships of African Americans with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River. It is sung from the point of view of a black stevedore on a showboat,[2][3] and is the most famous song from the show. The song is meant to be performed in a slow tempo, it is sung complete once in the musical's lengthy first scene by the stevedore "Joe" who travels with the boat, and, in the stage version, is heard four more times in brief reprises. Joe serves as a sort of musical one-man Greek chorus, and the song, when reprised, comments on the action, as if saying, "This has happened, but the river keeps rolling on anyway."
| "Ol' Man River" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Written | 1927 |
| Genre | Show tune |
| Composer(s) | Jerome Kern |
| Lyricist(s) | Oscar Hammerstein II |
The song is notable for several aspects: the lyrical pentatonic-scale melody, the subjects of toil and social class, metaphor to the Mississippi, and as a bass solo (rare in musicals, solos for baritones or tenors being more common).
Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra had a hit recording of the song in 1928, in a much faster tempo than Kern and Hammerstein intended, and featuring Bing Crosby on vocals and Bix Beiderbecke on cornet.[4] A second version, by Paul Whiteman with bass singer Paul Robeson on vocals and sung in a dance tempo, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2004, Robeson's version finished at #24 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
lyrics
Here we all work 'long the Mississippi Here we all work while the white folk play Pullin' them boats from the dawn till sunset Gettin' no rest till the judgment day Don't look up and don't look down Ya don't dast make the white boss frown Bend your knees and bow your head And pull that rope until you're dead Let me go 'way from the Mississippi Let me go 'way from the white man boss Show me that stream called the River Jordan That's the old stream that I long to cross
Ol' Man River, that Ol' Man River He must know somepin', but he don't say nothin' He just keeps rollin', he keeps on rollin' along He don't plant taters, and he don't plant cotton And them what plants 'em is soon forgotten But Ol' Man River, jest keeps rollin' along You and me, we sweat and strain Bodies all achin' and wracked with pain Tote that barge and lift that bale Ya get a little drunk and ya lands in ja-ail I gets weary and so sick of tryin' I'm tired of livin', but I'm feared of dyin' And Ol' Man River, he just keeps rollin' along
Various versions
The song was first performed in the original stage production of Show Boat on December 27, 1927, by Jules Bledsoe, who also sang it in the part-talkie 1929 film, although that film version had little to do with the stage musical. Bledsoe also recorded the song years later. However, the most famous rendition of it, one that is still noted today, was sung by Paul Robeson in James Whale's classic 1936 film version of Show Boat. (Robeson had performed the song before in the 1928 London production of the show and in the 1932 Broadway revival.) The first known recording of the song was by 'Kenn' Sisson and His Orchestra, recorded on December 27, 1927, with Irving Kaufman on vocals.[5]
Turning an upbeat-sounding melody into a tragic one
From the show's opening number "Cotton Blossom", the notes in the phrase "Cotton Blossom, Cotton Blossom" are the same notes as those in the phrase "Ol' Man River, dat Ol' Man River," but inverted. However, "Cotton Blossom" was written first, and "Ol' Man River" was written only after Kern and Hammerstein realized they needed a song to end the first scene in the show. Hammerstein decided to use the idea of the Mississippi River as a basis for the song and told Kern to use the melody that the stevedores sang in "Cotton Blossom" but invert some of it, and slow down the tempo. This inversion gave "Ol' Man River" a tragic quality.
Paul Robeson's alterations to the song lyrics
Beginning about 1938, and continuing on to the end of his career, Paul Robeson changed a few of the lyrics of "Ol' Man River" when singing it at recitals, though never in actual stage performances of Show Boat, and not in the 1936 film version.[2] (In addition to the 1928 and 1932 stage productions as well as the 1936 film version, he appeared in a Los Angeles stage revival in 1940). Except for the change of the word "niggers" to "darkies," the lyrics of the song as Robeson performed it in the 1936 film version of the show remain exactly as Oscar Hammerstein II originally wrote them in 1927. However, after 1938, Robeson would record the song only with the lyrics that he used in his post-1936 concert recitals.
In the 1978 one-man play Paul Robeson, by Phillip Hayes Dean, there is a (perhaps fictitious) reference to the change in the lyrics - an unseen interviewer asks Robeson (played by James Earl Jones) about the original lyrics, and he responds "No, I don't sing it that way anymore".[6]
In the 1951 film version of Show Boat, as well as the 1962 studio recording and the 1966 Lincoln Center revival of the show, William Warfield sang only the introductory verse and the lyrics to the main section of the song, and omitted what could be considered a controversial section, in contrast to both Jules Bledsoe (who sang it in the prologue to the 1929 film version) and Robeson (who sang the whole song in the 1936 film). The section that Warfield omitted begins:
- Niggers all work on de Mississippi,
- Niggers all work while de white folks play...
In the 1936 film, the word "niggers" was changed to "darkies". Ever since the 1946 revival, the term has been changed to "colored folks", although there have been revivals that change the lines to Here we all work on de Mississippi,/ Here we all work while de white folks play. Al Jolson sang a version starting with "lots of folks work on the Mississippi." Also, the phrase "feared of dyin' " (rather than "skeered of dyin' ") has been sung in some recordings,[3] notably Lawrence Tibbett's 1930s version, Gordon MacRae's 1950s version (first heard on The Railroad Hour), and Frank Sinatra's 1946 performance, first heard in the film Till the Clouds Roll By.
Robeson's own 1938 changes in the lyrics of the song are as follows:
- Instead of "Dere's an ol' man called de Mississippi, / Dat's de ol' man that I'd like to be...", Robeson sang "There's an ol' man called the Mississippi, / That's the ol' man I don't like to be"..."
- Instead of "Tote that barge! / Lift that bale! / Git a little drunk, / An' you land in jail...", Robeson sang "Tote that barge and lift dat bale!/ You show a little grit / And you lands in jail.."
- Instead of "Ah gits weary / An' sick of tryin'; / Ah'm tired of livin' / An skeered of dyin', / But Ol' Man River, / He jes' keeps rolling along!", Robeson sang "But I keeps laffin'/ Instead of cryin' / I must keep fightin'; / Until I'm dyin', / And Ol' Man River, / He'll just keep rollin' along!"[7] In Scene 7 of Act II of the show, Joe does sing this verse, but rather than singing "I must keep fightin' until I'm dyin", sings "I must keep livin' until I'm dyin,/ But Ol' Man River,/ He jes' keeps rollin' along!" According to the 1988 EMI album of Show Boat, these are Hammerstein's authentic lyrics for this reprise.
In recitals and in several of his many recordings of the song, Robeson also omitted the controversial section "Niggers all work on de Mississippi...", etc., with its middle portion "Don't look up/ An' don't look down/ You don't dast make / De white boss frown", etc., as well as its concluding "Lemme go ' way from de Mississippi/ Lemme go ' way from de white man boss, etc." . However, Robeson did include a portion of these lyrics in the 1932 4-record 78 rpm album of selections from Show Boat.
Robeson's own changes to the lyrics were sung by him, and by no other singer, although a clip exists of William Warfield, singing the song with the changes that Robeson incorporated into it.[8]
The changes in Robeson's concert renditions of the song shift the portrayal of Joe away from a resigned and sad character who is susceptible to the forces of his world, to one who is timelessly empowered and able to persevere through even the most trying circumstances.
The character of "Ol' Man River" is also changing. As originally conceived, the flowing river is perceived as eternally free and unchained, unaffected by oppression, which is why Joe would like to be like him. But in Robeson's interpretation, "Ol' Man River"'s "not caring that the land is not free" is regarded negatively, as indifference and not caring about the oppression and suffering of those who live on the river banks - and therefore, Joe does not want to be like him.
Lawrence Tibbett, in his performances of the song, did use the word "niggers". Frank Sinatra famously changed "Niggers all work on de Mississippi..." to "Here we all work on the Mississippi..." in a version of the song that he recorded post-1946. His 1946 performance of it omitted this section altogether.
The Temptations changed any references to the "white man boss" to "rich man boss", as well as "Here we all work while the white boys play" to "Here we all work while the rich boys play".
In 1988, EMI/Angel Records issued a 3-CD set of the complete score of Show Boat, starring Frederica Von Stade, Jerry Hadley, Teresa Stratas, and Bruce Hubbard, conducted by John McGlinn. On this album, the original 1927 lyrics of Ol' Man River were heard for the first time on a hi-fi stereo recording.
Gordon MacRae's version of the song, as performed on The Railroad Hour, changed the phrase white man boss to big man boss.[9]
See also
- "That Lucky Old Sun" – a country-western song addressing similar themes and popularized by Frankie Laine
- Spiritual – (also known as Negro spirituals) is a genre of songs originating in the United States and created by African-Americans describing the hardships of slavery.
References
- The Broadway League. "Show Boat - IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information".
- "Broadway: The American Musical: Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon: 9780821229057: Amazon.com: Books".
- "Lesson: Ol’ Man River" (school lesson for Mississippi River), Michael E. Marrapodi, New Covenant Christian School, Ashland, Massachusetts, 2006, webpage: MassGeo-River Archived 2007-12-31 at the Wayback Machine: shows phrase "feared of dyin' " (rather than "skeered" of dying) as sung in earlier recordings.
- "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
- Jerome Kern. "Cover versions of Ol' Man River by "Kenn" Sisson and His Orchestra - SecondHandSongs".
- "Paul Robeson.: Phillip Hayes Dean, Phillip Hayes Dean: 9780822215158: Amazon.com: Books".
- Sarah Lennox (2011). "Reading Transnationally: the GDR and American Black Writers" in Elaine Kelly, Amy Wlodarski (eds.), Art Outside the Lines: New Perspectives on GDR Art Culture. Editions Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-3341-2. p.124
- William Warfield performs "Old Man River" (Robeson version) on YouTube
- "OTR.Network Library (The Old Time Radio Network)".
Further reading
- The chapter "Ol' Man River" in the book Stardust Melodies: The Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs by Will Friedwald (New York: Pantheon Books, 2002).