lord have mercy on my mind
mercy on my memory
I'm lying neath the same Virginia sky
where she lay beside me, biding time
trying to abide me
every night when the night was long
she was clinging to me
told me twice that her love was strong
stronger than the love in old love songs
she was singing to me

o, shenandoah
cross the rolling water
o, shenandoah
where's your restless daughter?

don't know what I gave them for
all my little lessons
how you start the peas before the corn
how you start before the air is warm
she was never listening
hear it in her breathing
didn't come to me like some surprise
didn't even ask her why
when she said, "I'm leaving"

o, shenandoah
cross the rolling water
o, shenandoah
where's your willful daughter?

I brought in the winter squash
I brought in the melon
cortland, empire, macintosh
on the afternoon before the frost
I could feel it coming
I can see her now in her flowery clothes
all those things I bought her
trailing her perfume wherever she goes
cross the rolling water
shenandoah
where's your reckless daughter?
shenandoah
mercy on your daughter