Josephine Cameron: Music
Red River Valley
(Josephine Cameron)
Traditional
My first memory of this song is from grade school music class. We had a whole repertoire of “cowboy” songs: “Red River Valley” and “Goodbye Old Paint” and “Oh do you remember Sweet Betsy from Pike.” I used to imagine nice, clean, Oklahoma! style girls, and cowboys singing around the fire. It’s the quintessential song of American westward expansion—the restless cowboy picks up and leaves for yet another destination, trading his true love for the adventure of the open road. What’s interesting is that it may not have even begun as an American cowboy song after all. Many researchers think that the song originated at the Red River in Manitoba, Canada (not New York or Texas where it was typically placed), and was popular in the Northwest territories of Canada during the Rebellion of 1869. In either case, it remains one of the most lyrical and heart-breaking tunes in the American tradition.
From this valley they say you are going
We will miss your bright eyes & sweet smile
For they say you are taking the sunshine
That has brightened our pathway a while
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 one who has loved you so true
Won’t you think of that valley you’re leaving
Oh how lonely, how sad it will be
Oh and think of the fond heart you’re breaking
And the pain you are causing to me
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 one who has loved you so true
When 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
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 one who has loved you so true