The origins of this American folk song are quite uncertain. “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” rhyme can be tracked back to a similar old African American folk song around 1894, about working on a Mississippi River levee. The final part of the song, however, seems to have been added later from an old Irish anthem “Old Joe, or Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah” published in London between 1830-1840. The name Dinah refers, in any case, to a woman of color, or a slave.
“I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” Lyrics
I’ve been workin’ on the railroad
All the livelong day
I’ve been workin’ on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Can’t you hear the whistle blowin’
Rise up so early in the morn
Can’t you hear the captain shouting
“Dinah, blow your horn”.
Dinah won’t you blow
Dinah won’t you blow
Dinah won’t you blow your horn
Dinah won’t you blow
Dinah won’t you blow
Dinah won’t you blow your horn.
Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone’s in the kitchen I know
Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah
Strummin’ on the old banjo,
Singin’ “Fe Fi Fiddly I Oh,
Fe Fi Fiddly I Oh,
Fe Fi Fiddly I Oh,”
Strummin’ on the old banjo.