She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain
Coming round the mountain in pink pyjamas on six white horses
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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be coming round the mountain,
Coming round the mountain,
Coming round the mountain when she comes.
Singin' aye aye yippee yippee aye,
Singin' aye aye yippee yippee aye,
Singin' aye aye yippee, aye aye yippee,
Aye aye yippee yippee aye.
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes,
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes,
She'll be driving six white horses,
Driving six white horses,
Driving six white horses when she comes.
Singin' aye aye yippee yippee aye,
Singin' aye aye yippee yippee aye,
Singin' aye aye yippee, aye aye yippee,
Aye aye yippee yippee aye.
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes,
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes,
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her,
All go out to meet her,
All go out to meet her when she comes.
Singin' aye aye yippee yippee aye,
Singin' aye aye yippee yippee aye,
Singin' aye aye yippee, aye aye yippee,
Aye aye yippee yippee aye.
She'll be wearing pink pyjamas when she comes,
She'll be wearing pink pyjamas when she comes,
She'll be wearing pink pyjamas,
Wearing pink pyjamas,
Wearing pink pyjamas when she comes.
Singin' aye aye yippee yippee aye,
Singin' aye aye yippee yippee aye,
Singin' aye aye yippee, aye aye yippee,
Aye aye yippee yippee aye.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" is an American folk song of the late nineteenth century, derived from an earlier African American spiritual, "When the Chariot Comes". The spiritual describes the arrival of heavenly salvation; the folk song adapts this imagery to a more earthly arrival — a woman coming round the mountain, driving six white horses, ready to be welcomed.
The song was associated with railroad workers and the expansion of the American rail network, with the "mountain" often interpreted as a reference to the Appalachian mountains through which the railways were being built. "She" has been variously interpreted as a train, a hoped-for visitor, or a symbolic figure of deliverance.
By the time it entered the children's repertoire, the song had acquired the "aye aye yippee" chorus, and the arrival had been enhanced with pink pyjamas — an incongruous detail that delights children. The six white horses remain, though they have migrated from apocalyptic imagery to the cheerful excess of a very unusual mode of transport.
Our arrangement gives the song the boisterous, singalong energy it demands.
