Rivers Of Babylon By The Melodians

Rivers of Babylon is an inspirational spiritual song penned by the late Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Melodians. It is based on the Biblical hymn Psalm 137.

The most popular version of the song is by Boney M in 1978, which was released as a single and stayed at the #1 position in the UK for 5 weeks. Other popular versions have been performed by the Melodians, Sublime, and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Psalm 137 is a hymn expressing the yearnings of the Jewish people in exile following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The rivers of Babylon are the Euphrates river, its tributaries, and the Chebar river. In its whole form, the psalm reflects the yearning for Jerusalem as well a hatred for the Holy City's enemies with sometimes violent imagery.

NFTY, the youth group of the Union for Reform Judaism, uses the song in its songbook. This means that the song can be substituted for the actual prayer, which in Hebrew is called "Y'hiyu L'ratzon".

RIVERS OF BABYLON by The Melodians
(B. Dowe - F. McHaughton, adapted from Psalm 137:1)
From the Album: Rivers of Babylon: The Best of the Melodians 1967-1973

By the rivers of Babylon
Where we sat down
And there we wept
When we remembered Zion

But the wicked carried us away in captivity
Required from us a song
How can we sing King Alfa song
In a strange land
Cause the wicked carried us away in captivity
Required from us a song
How can we sing King Alfa song
In a strange land

Sing it out loud
Sing a song of freedom sister
Sing a song of freedom brother
We gotta sing and shout it
We gotta talk and shout it
Shout the song of freedom now

So let the words of our mouth
And the meditation of our heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight
Over I
So let the words of our mouth
And the meditation of our heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight
Over I

Sing it again
We've got to sing it together
Everyone of us together

By the rivers of Babylon...

Psalm 137 (NIV)

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,

3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill .

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.

7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
"Tear it down," they cried,
"tear it down to its foundations!"

8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-

9 he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.

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