Waterbound (I)

DESCRIPTION: Singer can't go home because of flooding. His girl's father is mad, but the singer doesn't care "as long as I get his daughter": "If he don't give her up, we're gonna run away." He and his friends state that they're going home "before the water rises."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (unissued recording, Grayson County Railsplitters)
KEYWORDS: courting elopement flood father
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 252-253, "Waterbound" (1 text)
DT, WATRBOND
RECORDINGS:
Grayson County Railsplitters, "Way Down in North Carolina" (unissued, 1929; on TimesAint05)
Art Thieme, "Waterbound" (on Thieme06)
Wade Ward & Bogtrotters, "Waterbound" (on Holcomb-Ward1)
NOTES [192 words]: Yes, there's a narrative buried in there -- two of them, really. - PJS
I suspect it may have been stronger, once upon a time, but gotten rather submerged after years of the tune being used primarily as a fiddle/banjo instrumental. As Paul notes, there are two plots -- one about the rising flood and one about courting. - RBW
The Grayson Co. Railsplitters' recording is essentially identical to the canonical version sung in the folk revival, mostly learned from the Wade Ward/Bogtrotters recording. It should be noted that Fields Ward, Wade's brother, was a member of the Railsplitters, along with Sampson Ward, Eck Dunford and Ernest "Pop" Stoneman -- an old-time music all-star show if ever there was one. - PJS
Note that, in addition to the two traditional songs titled "Waterbound" ("Waterbound (I)" and "Alabama Bound (I) (Waterbound II)"), there is a song by Dirk Powell, seemingly popular in bluegrass circles, with the first verse "I went out late one night, Moon and the stars were shining bright. Storm come up and the trees came down, Tell your boys I was waterbound." I see no evidence that this is traditional, so I have not indexed it. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: DTwatrbo

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