> Folk Music > Songs > Banks of the Ohio
Banks of the Ohio
[
Roud 157
; Laws F5
; Ballad Index LF05
; Mudcat 37286
; trad.]
Banks of the Ohio is a grizly ballad of a cruel murder by a jealous lover, similar to The Prentice Boy and Cruel Knife. Here it is sung by Bill Monroe and Doc Watson:
Jon Boden sang Banks of the Ohio as the 26 May 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.
Doyle Lawson sang Banks of the Ohio on the 2017 Appalachian ballad tradition anthology Big Bend Killing.
Lyrics
Jon Boden sings Banks of the Ohio
I asked my love to take a walk,
To take a walk, just a little walk
Down beside where the waters flow
Down by the banks of the Ohio.
Chorus (after each verse):
And only say that you’ll be mine
And in no other’s arms entwine,
Down beside where the waters flow,
Down by the banks of the Ohio
I held a knife against her breast
As close into my arms she pressed,
She cried, “Oh Willie, don’t you murder me!
I’m not prepared for eternity!”
I took her by the lily white hand
And led her down by the water’s strand,
I picked her up and pitched her in
And watched her body floating by.
I wandered home ’twixt twelve and one,
I cried, “ My God, what have I done?
I’ve killed the only woman I loved,
Because she would not be my bride.”