“Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” (or “Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore” or “Michael Row That Gospel Boat”) is an African-American spiritual. It was first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. It was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned the island before the Union navy would arrive to enforce a blockade. Charles Pickard Ware, an abolitionist and Harvard graduate who had come to supervise the plantations on St. Helena Island from 1862 to 1865, wrote the song down in music notation as he heard the freedmen sing it. Ware’s cousin, William Francis Allen reported in 1863 that while he rode in a boat across Station Creek, the former slaves sang the song as they rowed.

The song was first published in Slave Songs of the United States, by Allen, Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, in 1867.

By Pete Seeger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gce7DDH-F0

Lyrics

Michael row de boat ashore, Hallelujah!Michael boat a gospel boat, Hallelujah!I wonder where my mudder deh (there).See my mudder on de rock gwine home.On de rock gwine home in Jesus’ name.Michael boat a music boat.Gabriel blow de trumpet horn.O you mind your boastin’ talk.Boastin’ talk will sink your soul.Brudder, lend a helpin’ hand.Sister, help for trim dat boat.Jordan stream is wide and deep.Jesus stand on t’ oder side.I wonder if my maussa deh.My fader gone to unknown land.O de Lord he plant his garden deh.He raise de fruit for you to eat.He dat eat shall neber die.When de riber overflow.O poor sinner, how you land?Riber run and darkness comin’.Sinner row to save your soul.

or

Michel, row the boat a-shore, Hallelujah!
Then you’ll hear the trumpet blow, Hallelujah!
Then you’ll hear the trumpet sound, Hallelujah!
Trumpet sound the world around, Hallelujah!
Trumpet sound the jubilee, Hallelujah!
Trumpet sound for you and me, Hallelujah!

As this song originated in oral tradition, there are many versions of the lyrics. It begins with the refrain, “Michael, row the boat ashore, Hallelujah.” The lyrics describe crossing the River Jordan, as in these lines from Pete Seeger’s version:

Jordan’s river is deep and wide, hallelujah.

Meet my mother on the other side, hallelujah.

Jordan’s river is chilly and cold, hallelujah.

Chills the body, but not the soul, hallelujah.

The River Jordan can be viewed as a metaphor for death. According to Allen, the song refers to the Archangel Michael.  In Christian tradition, Michael is often regarded as a psychopomp, or conductor of the souls of the dead.