Replies to post #1301 on The Boredom Board

[Tina]

thank goodness for many other disableds that he didn't wish to have the plug pulled so he could just "die"

[youhavenoidea]

Who was Michael, and why should he row his boat ashore?

i know why..hehehe


12-Nov-2002



http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmichaelrow.html

[youhavenoidea]

"Michael Row the Boat Ashore" predates the Civil War. The history and origins of old Negro spirituals are generally obscure--the slaves didn't usually write things down, and their masters rarely thought slave songs were worth investigating. "Michael" is an exception, since we do have enough references to pinpoint the general origin of the song, if not its precise meaning.

[youhavenoidea]

Michael Row the Boat Ashore" is a rowing song. That's not as obvious as it sounds. "Michael" is the only rowing song we know about that's actually about boats. It was first mentioned in 1863 as a song sung by black slaves in the Georgia Sea Islands. Pete Seeger, in The Incompleat Folksinger, mentions that slaves brought from Africa spent their lives on these small islands, out of touch with mainland life. "The only transportation was small boats and strong arms to row them," he writes. The boat crews from different plantations would have their own rowing songs, each song exclusive to the plantation. "Michael" is mentioned in the letters of some teachers who went to the islands in 1862-63.