Banks of the Ohio...murder in bluegrass and beyond.

I played this song on banjo since I was an early adolescent.  I never took time to evaluate the lyrics.  

I have read one comment that explains it. 

It is part of a genre of murder ballads that is hundreds of years old and dates back to songs sung at public executions of murderers in England to tell the story of why the person was being executed. Minstrels were paid to sing them.

Nonetheless, it is programming the listener to see murder as appropriate to a rejected marriage proposal. Odd also that it is such a dark topic with such a bouncy melodic song. Like the Old World buildings, no one knows where it came from. First recorded in 1927 by Clarence Ashley, seen in the following clip from 1961.

Banks Of The Ohio

I asked my love to take a walk
Just a walk a little way
And as we walk, oh, may we talk
All about our wedding day

   Only say that you’ll be mine
   In our home we’ll happy be
   Down beside where the waters flow
   On the banks of the Ohio

I held a knife against her breast
As into my arms she pressed
She said Willie, don’t you murder me
I’m unprepared for eternity

I took her by her lily white hand
And dragged her down that bank of sand
There I throwed her in to drown
I watched her as she floated down

Was walking home tween twelve and one
Thinkin’ of what I had done
I killed a girl, my love you see
Because she would not marry me

The very next morn about half past four
The Sheriff came knocked at my door
He said now young man come now and go
Down to the Banks of the Ohio

The bluegrass version that I grew up on was Tony Rice with J.D. Crowe on banjo.

The legend Doc Watson is one of the few blind performers who does not wear sunglasses.  I saw him perform in Virginia 40 years ago.  Just tremendous.  The following performance with Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Rickie Skaggs, and Alison Krauss is also wonderful.  It is striking how tasteful and understated their playing is, given their technical abilities. 

This song was introduced to the world pop stage by Olivia Newton-John in 1972.  

Unfortunately, I used to fancy this one back in the day

...of course wearing a choker. 

Lip synched here....

And this one continued to perform this song for the next 30 years.  The below version is from 2003 and judging from the faces it makes, it is definitely  in on what this song is about. 

https://dirtybennywrites.blogspot.com/2023/11/onj-another-hive-member-pulled-off-stage.html

Of course, Johnny Cash recorded this as well.  

Not the first murder song Cash recorded. His big hit Folsom Prison Blues

When I was just a baby, my mama told me, "Son
Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns"
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry

But I Shot a Man in Reno Just to Watch Him Die

One of the most controversial and memorable lines in "Folsom Prison Blues" came straight from Cash.

When asked how he came up with the line, "But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die," Cash recounts: 

"I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind."

On the album recording Live at Folsom Prison, they have cheers from the inmates after this line is sung.