Story Behind The Song
October 24, 1804 The expedition reaches the Mandan Villages and builds Fort Mandan. After a long and bitter winter, the Corps of Discovery continues their laborious journey upstream
Song Description
The endless struggle of man powering the canoes and pirogues up river and the motivation that each man needed to continue.
| Song Length |
2:56 |
Genre |
Folk - Contemporary, Pop - Easy Listening |
| Tempo |
Medium (111 - 130) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Peaceful, Pleasant |
Subject |
Rivers, Determination |
| Similar Artists |
Kris Kristofferson, Harry Chapin |
Language |
English |
| Era |
1800 - 1899 |
| |
Lyrics
PUSH & PULL
Copyright 1999 David Walburn
The winter's over and it's time to go
You gotta pick off the ice, shake off the cold
Put away your fiddle boys, the dancing's done
And it's back to work all you frontier men
We're heading for the brink and back again
We'll find out who's got heart and who's got none
It's heave ho, Push and Pull
The mighty Missouri wants to make us fools
But we're gonna win this war and let me tell you why
We're gonna fight this river until its bitter end
Quench our thirst from where it first begins
One day, somewhere up on the Great Divide
Heave Ho, Push and Pull
Heave Ho
Heave Ho, Push and Pull
Now the Indian said friend you better beware
There's an evil spirit we call the Grizzly Bear
And he won't like it you cutting across his land
And this river gets swift and the mountains high
A few have gone but most of them died
But I dreamed of your return said the medicine man
It's heave ho, Push and Pull
The mighty Missouri wants to make us fools
But we're gonna win this war and let me tell you why
We're gonna fight this river until its bitter end
Quench our thirst from where it first begins
One day, somewhere up on the Great Divide