Row Row Row Your Boat

Row Row Row Your Boat Lyrics. One of the simplest, most widely taught songs in the English-speaking world, built to be sung as a round, with two, three or even four groups starting the same tune a line apart, so the voices overlap and echo like ripples spreading across water. Its exact origin is not fully documented: the earliest known printing dates to 1852, and the version sung today appeared in an 1881 American songbook credited to Eliphalet Oram Lyte, though it is unclear whether he composed the tune or adapted it. What is certain is how well its tiny vocabulary and constant repetition work for the very youngest singers, and how its closing line, “life is but a dream,” slips a surprisingly thoughtful idea into an otherwise playful little song. Here you will find the lyrics, meaning, and chords.