"Steamboat Bill" is a 1910 song with music by the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

group The Leighton Brothers and lyrics by Ren Shields. It became one of the first hit recordings in the United States through its 1911 recording by Arthur Collins, mostly known as the music in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's ''

Steamboat Willie ''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers (producer), Pat Powers, under the name of Cele ...

'', the first released

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

sound cartoon. Steamboat Bill also appeared in the 1928

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

film '' Steamboat Bill, Jr.''

Content

The song is an extended reference to a famed 1870 race down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

between two

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

s, the ''

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

'' and the '' Natchez''. It imagines a fictional steamboat, the ''Whippoorwill'', captained by "Mr. Steamboat Bill," who is determined to beat the record of the ''Robert E. Lee''. He commands his mates to use

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

as fuel if they run out of coal. In some versions of the song, either the captain or the crew is threatened with death if the boat is not fast enough. A gambler from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

(home of the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

) places a bet against Bill that the ''Whippoorwill'' will be unable to beat the record. Bill's obsession with speed causes the steam engine to explode, killing them both. The final verses imagine Bill and the gambler ascending to heaven, and his wife telling their children she will seek out a new husband in the railroad industry (a reference to " The Ballad of Casey Jones").

Analysis

A 1965 article in the ''

Journal of American Folklore The ''Journal of American Folklore'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. The journal has been published since the society's founding in 1888. Since 2003, this has been published at the University of I ...

'' refers to it as a " pseudo-Negro" song and a parody of "The Ballad of Casey Jones". More recently, R. John Brockmann has called into question the time period the song is set in, pointing out that boiler explosions had not been considered an issue for steamboat captains since the 1880s. Brockmann suggests that the song recalls memories of the mid-19th century when such explosions were common.

Recordings

Arthur Collins, a

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

singer, sang for the first recording in 1911. The song was a longtime hit in

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

and was covered as late as 1951, by the Delmore Brothers.

Cultural impact

Bolstered by the Buster Keaton and Mickey Mouse references, the song created lasting interest in steamboats and showboats. At least one showboat was actually named after the fictional ''Whippoorwill''. This boat met a disastrous fate when it was hit by the 1978 Whippoorwill tornado, killing 16 passengers and crew.

whistling a verse from "Steamboat Bill" in ''

'' has been used as the production logo of

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

since 2007.

References

{{reflist Songs about boats Songs about death Songs based on actual events 1910 songs