In the early 1940s, the federal Bonneville Power
Administration produced a movie encouraging rural residents
in the Pacific Northwest to electrify their homes and
farms with the power being generated by the newly-built
Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams on the Columbia River.
As part of the project, BPA hired folksinger Woody Guthrie
at $270 for 30 days to write songs for the movie. Guthrie
wrote 26 songs, the most popular of which was "Roll On,
Columbia, Roll On", an ode to the harnessing of the North
West's mightiest river. It was approved as the official
Washington state folk song by the Legislature in 1987.
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ROLL ON COLUMBIA
Chorus
Roll on, Columbia, roll on
Roll on, Columbia, roll on
Your power is turning our darkness to dawn
So roll on, Columbia, roll on.
Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through
Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew
Canadian Northwest to the oceans so blue
Roll on Columbia, roll on
Other great rivers add power to you
Yakima, Snake, and the Klickitat, too
Sandy Willamette and Hood River too
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Tom Jefferson's vision would not let him rest
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest
Sent Lewis and Clark and they did the rest
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
It's there on your banks that we fought many a fight
Sheridan's boys in the blockhouse that night
They saw us in death but never in flight
So roll on Columbia, roll on
At Bonneville now there are ships in the locks
The waters have risen and cleared all the rocks
Shiploads of plenty will steam past the docks
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
And on up the river is Grand Coulee Dam
The mightiest thing ever built by a man
To run the great factories and water the land
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
These mighty men labored by day and by night
Matching their strength 'gainst the river's wild flight
Through rapids and falls, they won the hard fight
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Written by Woody Guthrie
Music based on Goodnight Irene
Huddie Ledbetter & John Lomax
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