Red River Valley

Introduction

"Red River Valley" is a folk song and cowboy music standard of uncertain origins that has gone by different names (such as "Cowboy Love Song", "Bright Sherman Valley", "Bright Laurel Valley", "In the Bright Mohawk Valley", and "Bright Little Valley"), depending on where it has been sung. It is listed as Roud Folk Song Index 756 and by Edith Fowke as FO 13. It is recognizable by its chorus (with several variations):

From this valley they say you are going.
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile,
For they say you are taking the sunshine
That has brightened our pathway a while.

So come sit by my side if you love me.
Do not hasten to bid me adieu.
Just remember the Red River Valley,
And the cowboy that has loved you so true.

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time, ranked #10.

Origins

Edith Fowke offers anecdotal evidence that the song was known in at least five Canadian provinces before 1896. This finding led to speculation that the song was composed at the time of the 1870 Wolseley Expedition to Manitoba's northern Red River Valley. It expresses the sorrow of a local woman (possibly a Métis) as her soldier lover prepares to return to the east.

The earliest known written manuscript of the lyrics, titled "The Red River Valley", bears the notations "Nemaha 1879" and "Harlan 1885." Nemaha and Harlan are the names of counties in Nebraska, and are also the names of towns in Iowa.

The song appears in sheet music, titled "In the Bright Mohawk Valley", printed in New York in 1896 with James J. Kerrigan as the writer. The tune and lyrics were collected and published in Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag.

In 1925, Carl T. Sprague, an early singing cowboy from Texas, recorded it as "Cowboy Love Song" (Victor 20067, August 5, 1925), but it was fellow Texan Jules Verne Allen's 1929 "Cowboy's Love Song" (Victor 40167, March 28, 1929), that gave the song its greatest popularity. Allen himself thought the song was from Pennsylvania, perhaps brought over from Europe.

Lyrics

英语原版

From this valley they say you are living.

We should miss your bright eyes and sweet smile,

For they say you are taking the sunshine

That has brightened our pathway a while.

So come sit by my side if you love me.

Do not hasten to bid me adieu.

Just remember the Red River Valley,

And the cowboy that has loved you so true.

普通话版：

人们说你就要离开村庄，我们将怀念你的微笑，

你的眼睛比太阳更明亮，照耀在我们的心中。

请走来坐在我们的身旁，不要离别得这样匆忙，

想一想你走后我的痛苦，还有那热爱你的朋友。

人们说你就要离开村庄，我们将怀念你的微笑，

你的眼睛比太阳更明亮，照耀在我们的心中。

请走来坐在我们的身旁，不要离别得这样匆忙，

想一想你走后我的痛苦，还有那热爱你的朋友。

想一想你走后我的痛苦，还有那热爱你的朋友。

粤语版：

离别绪扰心中痛苦心碎，难过悲怨令我满眼泪。

因说你快别离故乡他去，这事情乱我心，扰我绪。

红河谷你家乡别要放弃，念念你一度在此地游戏。

应紧记不要忘你的知己，纵分离我仍然深爱你。

儿歌版：

野牛群离草原无踪无影， 它知道有人要来临；

大地等人们来将它开垦， 用双手带给它新生命。

草原上将盖满金色麦穗， 大城市过不久就建起；

欢迎你各民族姐妹兄弟， 来到这最美丽的天地。