Row Your Boat to Dreamland
An Expanded Bedtime Lullaby of the classic song, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
Verse 1
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
Verse 2
Row, row, row your boat
Underneath the stars,
Guided by the silver moon,
Sailing near and far.
Verse 3
Float, float, float your boat
Drifting to the shore,
Close your eyes as dreams arise
With pathways to explore.
Verse 4
Sleep, sleep, sleep so deep,
And breathe a little sigh,
Safe and warm until the morn
Paints pink across the sky.
CITATIONS
Verse 1 & Melody:
Traditional Folk Song (Public Domain).
Note: While the earliest printing of the modern tune dates back to 1881 (attributed to Eliphalet Oram Lyte in The Franklin Square Song Collection), the melody and original lyrics are firmly established in the public domain globally.
Verses 2, 3, & 4:
New lyrical arrangement copyright © 2026 Magic Flue Forest LLC. All rights reserved.
Note for Publishers: This version is an original derivative work designed specifically to transition the traditional round into a sequential, linear bedtime lullaby.
Performance and Structural Note
Musical Form:
While the traditional version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat is structurally designed to be performed as a round (or canon) with overlapping vocal entries, this expanded four-verse adaptation is structured as a strophic lullaby. It is intended to be sung straight through as a continuous narrative, matching the steady, rocking $6/8$ time signature to encourage a calm, rhythmic wind-down for sleep.