She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain Lyrics

She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain is an American folk song that emerged around 1899, likely adapted from an older spiritual and later associated with railroad and mountain work communities. It's well suited to preschool and early elementary children, roughly ages 3 to 8, especially as an action song where each verse adds a new gesture, like tooting a horn or waving hello. Early-childhood educators often use cumulative action songs like this one because layering a new physical motion onto each repeated verse strengthens memory and body coordination at the same time, giving children two skills to practice within one activity. Its steady, marching rhythm and easily-taught call-and-response verses have made it a staple of school buses, campfires, and classrooms for well over a century. Because new verses can be invented freely, it also gives children a low-stakes way to contribute their own ideas to a group song. To see how action-based folk songs like this one support physical development in young children, read How Movement Songs Support Gross Motor Development.

She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be coming 'round the mountain,
She'll be coming 'round the mountain,
She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes!

She'll be driving six white horses when she comes,
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes,
She'll be driving six white horses,
She'll be driving six white horses,
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes!

Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes,
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes,
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her,
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her,
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes!

We'll be singing hallelujah when she comes,
We'll be singing hallelujah when she comes,
We'll be singing hallelujah,
We'll be singing hallelujah,
We'll be singing hallelujah when she comes!