Paul Robeson - Ol' Man River (Showboat - 1936) J.Kern O. Hammerstein II

From Showboat's 2nd version (1936) Paul Robeson - Ol' Man River

Ol' Man River (Jerome Kern - Oscar Hammerstein II)

Lyrics from the Original Libretto

Dare's an ol' man cal'd de Mississipi
Dat's de ol' man dat I'd lek to be
Whot does he care
iv de world gets trauble
Whot does he care iv de land lev's free.

Ol' man river,
Dat ol' man river
He mus'know sumpin'
But don't say nuthin',
He jes'keeps rollin'
He keeps on rollin' along.

He don' plant taters,
He don't plant cotton,
An' dem dat plants'em
is soon forgotten,
But ol'man river,
He jes keeps rollin'along.

You an'me, we sweat an' strain,
Body all achin' an' racket wid pain,
Tote dat barge!
Lif' dat bale!
You gits a little drunk
An' you lands in jail.

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.

[Colored folks work on de Mississippi,
Colored folks work while de white folks play,
Pullin' dose boats from de dawn to sunset,
Gittin' no rest till de judgement day.

Don't look up
An' don't look down,
You don' dast make
De white boss frown.
Bend your knees
An'bow your head,
An' pull date rope
Until you' dead.)

Let me go 'way from the Mississippi,
Let me go 'way from de white man boss;
Show me dat stream called de river Jordan,
Dat's de ol' stream dat I long to cross.

O' man river,
Dat ol' man river,
He mus'know sumpin'
But don't say nuthin'
He jes' keeps rollin'
He keeps on rollin' along.

(Long ol' river forever keeps rollin' on...)

He don' plant tater,
He don' plant cotton,
An' dem dat plants 'em
Is soon forgotten,
but ol' man river,
He jes' keeps rollin' along.

(Long ol' river keeps hearing dat song).

You an' me, we sweat an' strain,
Body all achin an' racked wid pain.
Tote dat barge!
Lif' dat bale!
Git a little drunk
An' you land in jail.

Ah, gits weary
An' sick of tryin'
Ah'm tired of livin'
An' skeered of dyin',
But ol' man river,
He jes'keeps rollin' along!

• Category

  Music

[Billy Morris]

I'm tired of living and scared of dying - never been able to get over the power of that line

[peanutbutter3217]

in my opinion, they could have just ended the song right there at 1:54.

[prgenki]

ray brought me here

[Archer Argonian]

Definitely the best and most powerful version of this song out there, regardless of its age. It truly is timeless.

[robert downing]

Paul Robeson is one of the greatest men of the 20th Century and has one of the greatest voices. His life and times should taught in every American school. A truly inspirational man. Let Robeson sing.

[Luc Patry]

We must remember!

[cwcwful]

Right on, Sir. Some of the comments are so dumb I can not respond to them, but I'm glad you did. Thank you.

[Allison Chains]

Me too :)

[gf1001]

One of the true greats sang with passion, I always feel sad listening to this. Thanks for sharing.

[patricia binkley-childress]

Jesus Christ gives you strength to live each day and with Him there is no fear of life after your time on Earth is through. Great song but not a very positive line.

[2015Drama]

I agree. That line is pure musical theatre poetry.