Roll Columbia, Roll
Words and music Woody Guthrie
Words and music Woody Guthrie
Released on Columbia River Collection (1988)
Capo 4th fret
Bass pattern throughout song:
C F G
|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|----2---2--|-----------|
|----2---2--|--3---3----|-----------|
|--3---3----|-----------|----2---2--|
|-----------|-----------|--3---3----|
Intro:
C..
|--------------------|
|---------1----------|
|---------0----------|
|---2---2-----2---2--|
|-3---3-----3---3----|
|--------------------|
..C F
There's a great and peaceful river In a land that's fair to see,
G C
where ???????? and snow-capped mountain breeze.
F
Cliffs of solid granite and the valley's always green,
G C
This is just as close to heaven as my travelin' feet have been.
G C
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
G C
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
And upon a ??? mountain with ??? filled with sand,
See the crops and orchards swaying 'neath the touch of nature's hand.
And further up the river where you eye will meet the sky,
Is where you'll see the steel and concrete of the big Grand Coulee rise.
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
There's Priest and Cascade rapids, men have labored day and night,
Matched their strength against the river and it's wild and reckless fight.
???? beat the ??? but it left men dreams to dream,
of the days that they would conquer that wild and wasted stream.
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Uncle Sam took the challenge in the year of '33,
For the farmers and the workers and for all humanity.
Now river you can ramble where the sun sets in the sea,
But river while you ramble you can do some work for me.
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Now there's ?? million horse charged with free electric power,
Day and night they'll run the factories and they never will get tired.
Well a coal mine gets dug out and a oil well it runs dry,
But Uncle Sam will find his power where the river meets the sky.
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Capo 4th fret
Bass pattern throughout song:
C F G
|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|----2---2--|-----------|
|----2---2--|--3---3----|-----------|
|--3---3----|-----------|----2---2--|
|-----------|-----------|--3---3----|
Intro:
C..
|--------------------|
|---------1----------|
|---------0----------|
|---2---2-----2---2--|
|-3---3-----3---3----|
|--------------------|
..C F
There's a great and peaceful river In a land that's fair to see,
G C
where ???????? and snow-capped mountain breeze.
F
Cliffs of solid granite and the valley's always green,
G C
This is just as close to heaven as my travelin' feet have been.
G C
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
G C
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
And upon a ??? mountain with ??? filled with sand,
See the crops and orchards swaying 'neath the touch of nature's hand.
And further up the river where you eye will meet the sky,
Is where you'll see the steel and concrete of the big Grand Coulee rise.
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
There's Priest and Cascade rapids, men have labored day and night,
Matched their strength against the river and it's wild and reckless fight.
???? beat the ??? but it left men dreams to dream,
of the days that they would conquer that wild and wasted stream.
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Uncle Sam took the challenge in the year of '33,
For the farmers and the workers and for all humanity.
Now river you can ramble where the sun sets in the sea,
But river while you ramble you can do some work for me.
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Now there's ?? million horse charged with free electric power,
Day and night they'll run the factories and they never will get tired.
Well a coal mine gets dug out and a oil well it runs dry,
But Uncle Sam will find his power where the river meets the sky.
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Roll Colombia, won't you roll, roll, roll
Curious after years of interest in Woody Guthrie (and doing a number of his songs), I've only just discovered your excellent site. Please consider doing updates once again.
Anyway...
In the book, “26 Songs in 30 Days” by Greg Vandy and Daniel Person, Woody’s original typewritten lyrics are reproduced on page 114 (and it’s Columbia, rather than Colombia):
Roll Columbia
There’s a great and peaceful river in a land that is fair to see
Where the Douglas fir tree whispers to the snow capped mountain breeze.
The cliffs are solid granite and the valley’s always green,
This is just as close to heavy as my traveling feet have been,
Roll Columbia, won’t you roll, roll, roll
Roll Columbia, won’t you roll, roll, roll.
Stand upon her timbered mountain, look across her silver strand,
See the crops and orchards springing to the touch of nature’s hand.
And it’s farther up the river where your eye will meet the skies
Where you’ll see the steel and concrete of the Grand Coulee rise.
Chorus
There at Priest and Cascade rapids men have labored day and night,
Matched their strength against the river in its wild and reckless flight.
Boats and rafts were beat to splinters but it left men dreams to dream
Of that day when they would conquer the wild and wasted stream.
Chorus
Uncle Sam took up the challenge in the year of ‘33
For the farmers and the workers and for all humanity.
Now river you can ramble where the sun sets in the sea,
But while you’re rambling river you can do some work for me.
Chorus
Now there’s full a million horses charged with Coulee’s ‘lectric power
Day and night they’ll run the factory and they never will get tired.
Well a coal mine gets dug out and an oil well it runs dry,
But Uncle Sam will find his power where the river meets the sky.
Chorus
Additional note: I agree that Woody probably meant "heaven", given the context (verse 1, line 4), but the original typescript actually does say "heavy".