“‘Banks of the Ohio'” is a 19th century murder ballad, in which Willie invites his young
lover for a walk during which she rejects his marriage proposal. Once they are alone on
the river bank, he murders the girl. The song has been recorded countless times, including
by Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, the Blue Sky Boys (whose version, performed in
1936, appears in the soundtrack of the 1973 film Paper Moon), the Monroe Brothers,
Joan Baez, Olivia Newton-John (with Mike Sammes, in 1971, her second commercial
single in the United States), and Doc Watson, with slightly different lyrics when sung by
a female. Also, the song and its title serve as the theme song for, and title of, a long-
running radio series broadcast of bluegrass music on WAMU–PBS and Bluegrass
Country, hosted by Fred Bartenstein and produced for the International Bluegrass Music
Museum, near the Ohio River in Owensboro, Kentucky.
I asked my love to take a walk
Just a little ways with me
And as we walked and we would talk
All about our wedding day
(chorus)
And only say that you’ll be mine
In no others arms entwined
Down beside where the waters flow
On the banks of the Ohio
I asked her if she’d marry me
And my wife forever be
She only turned her head away
And had no other words to say
(chorus)
I plunged a knife into her breast
And told her she was going to rest
She cried “Oh Willy, don’t murder me
I’m not prepared for eternity.”
I took her by her golden curls
I drug her down to the river-side
An I there threw her into drown
And I watched her as she floated down
(chorus)
And going home between twelve and one
I cried “Lord, what have I’ve done?”
One thought on “Banks of the Ohio’”
Bill Monroe & Doc Watson……https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C3r9PnoNTw