Ol' Man River

E258802
popular standard show tune song

Ol' Man River is a classic American song from the 1927 musical "Show Boat," renowned for its powerful, soulful melody and poignant commentary on African American hardship and resilience.

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All labels observed (5)

Label Occurrences
Ol' Man River canonical 6
Ol’ Man River 2
"Ol' Man River" 1

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf popular standard ⓘ
show tune ⓘ
song ⓘ
associatedWork Show Boat ⓘ
surface form: Show Boat (1936 film)

Show Boat ⓘ
surface form: Show Boat (1951 film)
composer Jerome Kern ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
firstPerformanceYear 1927 ⓘ
genre popular music ⓘ
protest song ⓘ
show tune ⓘ
torch song ⓘ
hasCulturalSignificance iconic song of African American struggle in musical theatre ⓘ
standard of the American songbook ⓘ
hasLegacy frequently recorded and covered by numerous artists ⓘ
influencedBy African American work songs ⓘ
spirituals ⓘ
introducedIn Show Boat ⓘ
surface form: Show Boat (1927 musical)
keyAssociation commonly performed in D-flat major (varies by arrangement) ⓘ
language English ⓘ
lyricalFeature recurring refrain about the river "just keeps rollin' along" ⓘ
use of dialect in original lyrics ⓘ
lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II ⓘ
musicalForm ballad ⓘ
musicalWorkType solo song ⓘ
narrativePerspective first person ⓘ
notablePerformer Bing Crosby ⓘ
Frank Sinatra ⓘ
Judy Garland ⓘ
Jules Bledsoe ⓘ
Mahalia Jackson ⓘ
Paul Robeson ⓘ
Sam Cooke ⓘ
William Warfield ⓘ
originalContext sung by the stevedore Joe reflecting on life and the river ⓘ
originalMedium stage musical ⓘ
originalPerformerCharacter Joe ⓘ
originalProduction Show Boat ⓘ
surface form: Show Boat (1927 Broadway production)
partOf Show Boat ⓘ
performanceTradition often performed by bass or baritone singers ⓘ
publicationYear 1927 ⓘ
setting Mississippi River ⓘ
subjectMatter contrast between human suffering and the indifferent flow of the river ⓘ
tempoMarking typically slow and solemn ⓘ
theme African American hardship ⓘ
Mississippi River ⓘ
labor and toil ⓘ
racial injustice ⓘ
resilience ⓘ

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Jerome Kern → notableWork → Ol' Man River ⓘ
Show Boat → notableSong → Ol' Man River ⓘ
AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs → hasPart → Ol' Man River ⓘ
this entity surface form: "Ol' Man River"
Kern → notableWork → Ol' Man River ⓘ
subject surface form: Jerome Kern
this entity surface form: Ol’ Man River
Till the Clouds Roll By → featuresSong → Ol' Man River ⓘ
Eva Leale → spouseNotableWork → Ol' Man River ⓘ
Queenie → hasNotableSongAssociation → Ol' Man River ⓘ
this entity surface form: “Ol’ Man River” (through scenes with Joe)
Joe → sings → Ol' Man River ⓘ
subject surface form: Joe (Show Boat)
Joe → associatedSong → Ol' Man River ⓘ
subject surface form: Joe (Show Boat)
Joe → notableFor → Ol' Man River ⓘ
subject surface form: Joe (Show Boat)
this entity surface form: performing the song Ol' Man River
Robeson → notableWork → Ol' Man River ⓘ
subject surface form: Paul Robeson
this entity surface form: Ol’ Man River