Low Bridge (song)

"Low Bridge, Everybody Down"

Original publication of "Low Bridge, Everybody Down"
Also known as	"Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal" "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal" "Erie Canal Song" "Mule Named Sal"
Lyrics	Thomas S. Allen, 1913
Music	Thomas S. Allen, 1913
Audio sample
"Low Bridge! Everybody Down" (Original piano accompaniment for the song by Thomas S. Allen. From the 1913 sheet music. Performed by Steven M. Alper) file help

"Low Bridge, Everybody Down" is a folk song credited to Thomas S. Allen (although its origin and authorship remain in question^[1]), first recorded in 1912,^[2] and published by F.B. Haviland Publishing Company in 1913.^[3] It was written after the construction of the New York State Barge Canal, which would replace the Erie Canal, was well underway, furthering the change from mule power to engine power, raising the speed of traffic. Also known as "Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal", "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal", "Erie Canal Song", "Erie Barge Canal", and "Mule Named Sal", the song memorializes the years from 1825 to 1880 when the mule barges made boomtowns out of Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, and transformed New York into the Empire State.

The music cover published in 1913 depicts a boy on a mule getting down to pass under a bridge, but the reference to "low bridge" in the song refers to travelers who would typically ride on top of the boats. The low bridges would require them to get down out of the way to allow safe passage under a bridge.^[4]