This Ol' Riverboat Songtext
von The New Christy Minstrels

This ol′ riverboat
Walkin' up the river
Keep her steady as you go

Heave the lead and pay the line
Now, we′re markin' on the twine
Four fathoms below
Way up the river, we go

This ol' riverboat
Walkin′ by the levee
Keep her steady as you go

Think I hear the captain say
"Full ahead, we′re on our way"
Three fathoms below
Way up the river we go

Keep on a-movin'
Gotta beat ol′ Dixie
Or we'll come back empty
I know


Way down the river, I can hear her whistle blow
(Here she comes!)
(I can see her now!)

This ol′ riverboat
Churnin' muddy water
Ease ′er down, and take it slow

Can't you hear that rumblin' sound?
Lord, I think we′ve run aground
No fathoms below
You′d better pray it ain't so

We′re muckin' bottom
And here comes ol′ Dixie
Singin', "who′s got that cotton to sell?"

Ah, but when she's passin'
We′re risin′ high on her swell
(Ah-ha! Yeah!)
We're on the move again


These two riverboats
Racin′ up the river
Then ol' Dixie runs aground
There she stands high and dry
And we′re walkin' right on by
I can see the lights of town
We′re gonna roll that cotton down

This ol' riverboat
Seen a lot of water
Lot of cotton, you can bet

You can ask anyone you meet
They say she can't be beat
She ain′t never been, yet
Can′t you hear that whistle blow?
Way up the river, we go!

Walkin' up the river, we go
Up and down the river, we go