Row, Row, Row your Boat rhythm

It is an educational song and also an interactive singing game for kids. It can be played at home by parents and children or in kindergartens. While singing the lyrics, the kids must be sitting down face to face holding their hands, leaning to the front and to the back imitating the dance of a boat.

It also can be a good game to play in the pool to make the kids more confident in water. You can have your baby sitting on a mat in front of you while you are cradling him singing “Row, Row, Row your boat”. You can also hold their hands to give them more confidence.

The lyrics of this song can be used by teachers and parents to explain the children the importance of a positive attitude in life. Row, Row, Row Your Boat’s meaning is to not quit, keep going with your life no matter how many difficulties or duties you are meeting.

The origin of the song is uncertain. Similar lyrics were first published in 1852 and the version of the song as known today have been republished later in The Franklin Square Song Collection without any reference about the author.

The idyllic lyrics depict a journey that makes you into the protagonist, rowing a boat nice and serenely down a stream. Life is dreamy.

But who wrote the song, and where did it come from? Let’s row on and find out…

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What are the origins of ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’?

Like many traditional children’s folk songs and nursery rhymes, the original author is unknown.

The earliest publication of the song found in history is from 1852, and American teacher and textbook author Eliphalet Oram Lyte has a name credit next to the publication of the song in the 1881 Franklin Square Song Collection. Lyte’s version has the tune most widely known today, whereas previous versions have a different melody.

The song is accompanied by actions – usually participants sitting opposite one another, holding hands, and ‘rowing’ backwards and forwards together to mimic the lilting boat – that teach babies and young children coordination and communication skills.

It can also be sung as a round, with four or more singers joining in every time a new line is sung, creating some nice four-part harmony.

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What are the full lyrics of ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’?

‘Row Row Row Your Boat’ has just one stanza, with four lines:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

Other versions of the lyrics can be created off the cuff, and many of these have been passed on and stuck over time. You may have come across other words, including the fun versions that bring various animals in, below:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently up the creek
If you see a little mouse
Don’t forget to squeak!

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
If you see a crocodile
Don’t forget to scream!

Row, row, row your boat
Gently to the shore
If you see a lion
Don’t forget to roar!

What is the meaning of ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’?

It’s a wholesome adventure, and many people have put their own spins on the depth of the song’s meaning over time.

The positive messages of rowing on determinedly, the gentleness of the stream, the merriment of it all, and the dreaminess of life lend themselves irresistibly to revealing a deeper meaning in ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’ – a meaning that revolves around keeping going, staying focused, having a positive outlook and keeping things in perspective.

This guy went viral a few years ago discussing just that.

Whether a simple song to teach children communication and coordination, or a rhyme with a deeper meaning, it’s an undeniably catchy, uplifting little tune, perfect for keeping young‘uns entertained.

"Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is an English language nursery rhyme and a popular children's song, often sung in a round. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19236.

Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs (1961). Crosby also used the song as part of a round with his family during his concert at the London Palladium in 1976. The performance was captured on the album Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium.

The most common modern version is often sung as a round for up to four voice parts (play (help·info)). A possible arrangement for SATB is as follows:

[1]

Origins[edit]

The earliest printing of the song is from 1852, when the lyrics were published with similar lyrics to those used today, but with a very different tune. It was reprinted again two years later with the same lyrics and another tune. The modern tune was first recorded with the lyrics in 1881, mentioning Eliphalet Oram Lyte in The Franklin Square Song Collection but not making it clear whether he was the composer or adapter.[2]

Legacy and alternative versions[edit]

The nursery rhyme is well known, appearing in several films, e.g. Star Trek V, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Manos: The Hands of Fate. People often add additional verses, a form of children's street culture, with the intent of either extending the song or (especially in the case of more irreverent versions) to make it funny, parody it, or substitute another sensibility for the perceived innocent one of the original. In Bean, Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) and Peter MacNicol (David Langley) also used this parody singing in the film.[3] Don Music, a muppet character in Sesame Street, changed the lyrics to feature a car instead of a boat.[4][5][6]

What is the rhythm of Row Row Your Boat?

What is the metaphor in Row, Row, Row Your Boat?

What is the meaning of Row, Row, Row Your Boat gently down the stream merrily merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream?

How is Row, Row, Row Your Boat a philosophy of life?