The popular kids’ song “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain” was set to the melody of a slave spiritual “When the Chariot Comes”. That song referred to the Rapture when Jesus would have his Second Coming. He would return in a chariot. The chariot could also refer to a train, as in the Underground Railroad. The song was adopted by railroad workers in the 1890’s with lyrics adjusted to closer to what we know today. It was published for the first time in Carl Sandburg’s “The American Songbag” in 1927. Sandburg claimed the version he published referred to Mary “Mother” Jones. She was born on May 1, 1837. Jones was a famous labor activist who traveled the country in support of labor unions and strikes. She was called “the most dangerous person in America”. Union workers would look forward to her arrival. So, you can substitute “Mother” Jones for “she”. The “yee-haw” was added later when the song became popular with kindergarten classes.
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes (yee-haw)
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes (yee-haw)
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes (yee-haw)
She’ll be ridin’ six white horses when she comes (whoa back)
She’ll be ridin’ six white horses when she comes (whoa back)
She’ll be ridin’ six white horses
She’ll be ridin’ six white horses
She’ll be ridin’ six white horses when she comes
(Whoa back)
(Yee-haw)
And we’ll all go out to greet her when she comes (yo, what’s up?)
Yeah, we’ll all go out to greet her when she comes (yo, what’s up?)
Oh, we’ll all go out to greet her
Yeah, we’ll all go out to greet her
We’ll all go out to greet her when she comes
(Yo, what’s up?)
(Whoa back)
(Yee-haw)
We will kill the old red rooster when she comes
We will kill the old red rooster when she comes
We will kill the old red rooster,
We will kill the old red rooster,
We will kill the old red rooster when she comes
Oh, we’ll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes
Oh, we’ll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes
Oh, we’ll all have chicken and dumplings,
We’ll all have chicken and dumplings
Oh, we’ll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes
She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes
She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes
She will have to sleep with Grandma,
She will have to sleep with Grandma
She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She%27ll_Be_Coming_%27Round_the_Mountain
https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/how-shell-be-coming-round-the-mountain-evolved
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