A ragtime song about a steamboat arriving, 1912.
Words by L. Wolfe Gilbert.
Music by Lewis F. Muir.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment track:
Lyrics
- Way down on the levee in old Alabamy
There’s daddy and mammy, there’s Ephraim and Sammy
On a moonlight night you can find them all
While they are waitin’ the banjos are syncopatin’
What’s that they’re sayin’? What’s that they’re sayin’?
While they keep playin’, hummin’ and swayin’
It’s the good ship Robert E. Lee
That’s come to carry the cotton away
Chorus
Watch them shufflin’ along, see them shufflin’ along
Go take your best gal, real pal
Go down to the levee, I said to the levee
And join that shufflin’ throng, hear that music and song
It’s simply great, mate, waitin’ on the levee
Waitin’ for the Robert E. Lee
- The whistles are blowin’ the smokestaks are showin’
The ropes they are throwin’, excuse me I’m goin’
To the place where all is harmonious
Even the preacher, he is the dancing teacher
Have you been down there? Were you around there?
If you ever go there, you’ll always be found there
Why dog gone, here comes my baby
On the good old Robert E. Lee
Sung here by Fred Feild: