Red River Valley
Notation:
Standard Notation
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Mandolin Tablature
traditional
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Standard Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Song Sheet
American
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
From this valley they say you are going.
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile,
For they say you are taking the sunshine
That has brightened our path for a while.
Chorus:
Come and sit by my side if you love me.
Do not hasten to bid me adieu
But remember the Red River Valley
And the cowboy who loved you so true.
Won't you think of the valley you're leaving,
Oh how lonely, how sad it will be?
Oh think of the fond heart you're breaking
And the grief you are causing to me.
Chorus
As you go to your home by the ocean
May you never forget those sweet hours
That we spent in the Red River Valley
And the love we exchanged mid the flowers.
Chorus
"Red River Valley", also known as "Cowboy Love Song", "Bright Sherman Valley",<br> "Bright Laurel Valley", "In the Bright Mohawk Valley" and "Bright Little Valley"<br> depending on where it has been sung is a folk song of uncertain origins.<br> The earliest known written manuscript of the lyrics, titled "The Red River Valley",<br> bears the notations "Nemaha 1879" and "Harlan 1885". Nemaha and Harlan are the<br> names of counties in Nebraska and are also the names of towns in Iowa.<br> There are two Red Rivers - the Red River of the North forms the border between<br> Minnesota and North Dakota and flow northward into Manitoba, Canada. It empties<br> into Lake Winnipeg and ultimately flows into Hudson Bay.<br> The Red River of the South forms the border between Texas and Oklahoma.It flows into<br> Louisiana and joins the Atchafalaya River. This is most likely the Red River of the<br> song.<br> The song appears in sheet music, titled "In the Bright Mohawk Valley", printed in<br> New York in 1896 with James J. Kerrigan as the writer. The tune and lyrics were<br> collected and published in Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag.<br> It is listed as Roud Folk Song Index #756.<br> The tune and lyrics were collected and published in Carl Sandburg's American<br> Songbag (1927) and Lomax's Best Loved American Folk Songs.<br> It has been recorded by Kelly Harrell, Woody Guthrie, Roy Acuff, Arlo Guthrie,<br> Lynn Anderson, the Andrews Sisters, Eddy Arnold, Boxcar Willie, Riders of the Purple<br> Sage, Tex Ritter, Marty Robbins, Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Rogers, Pete Seeger, the<br> Sons of the Pioneers, Roger Whittaker, Glenn Yarbrough and George Strait.<br>
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