Death of the Rowing Song

The Rowing Song

The Rowing Song has died with the river,
Its tune now a dirge, its lyrics lament;
Gone are the gay deities in the water.

Pasig River, Manila

How a river dies reflects human indifference and irreverence. Pasig River is typical of dying natural waterways in many parts of the world.

The Rowing Song

The Rowing Song has died with the river,
Its tune now a dirge, its lyrics lament;
Gone are the gay deities in the water,
The happy rower and his laden net.

Oh, the Blue Danube is no longer blue,
And the Rhine idle gray in the morning;
The Yangtze and Nile, and the Mekong, too
The Rowing Song is dying, dying.

- Lorenzo P Bonoan 

Here is the most popular version as a nursery rhyme:

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

But in this other version the jovial mood suddenly shifts to an unspeakable lament.

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the brook.
If you catch a little fish,
Let it off the hook.

Throw, throw, throw the corpse,
Gently in the grave.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Say goodbye and wave. ~