She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain

"She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" (also sometimes called simply "Coming 'Round the Mountain") is a traditional folk song often categorized as children's music.

The song is derived from a Christian song known as "When the Chariot Comes". The song's style is reminiscent of the call and response structure of many folk songs; among them are songs with a similar verse-structure but variant melodies, such as If You're Happy and You Know It.

These kinds of songs can be traced back to 17th-century British radical protestants and later commonly appeared in ballads as well as some religious songs: examples include "What Wondrous Love Is This", "Brave Benbow", "The Ballad of Captain Kidd", "Sam Hall" and "Ye Jacobites by Name".

Although the first printed version of the song appeared in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag in 1927, it is believed to have originated during the late 1800s, based on an old spiritual titled "When the Chariot Comes" sung to the same melody, which during the 19th century spread through Appalachia, where the lyrics were changed into their current form, which is often heard today with responses that add on to the previous verse.

The song ostensibly refers to the Second Coming of Christ and subsequent Rapture, with the she referring to the chariot that the returning Christ is imagined as driving. Like most spirituals originating in the African-American community, however, this was probably a coded anthem for the Underground Railroad.

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