By The Rivers Of Babylon

Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon,

There we sat down, yea, we wept

When we remembered Zion.

We hung our harps

Upon the willows in the midst of it.

For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,

And those who plundered us requested mirth,

Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How shall we sing the Lord’s song

In a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget its skill!

If I do not remember you,

Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—

If I do not exalt Jerusalem

Above my chief joy.

Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom

The day of Jerusalem,

Who said, “Raze it, raze it,

To its very foundation!”

O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed,

Happy the one who repays you as you have served us!

Happy the one who takes and dashes

Your little ones against the rock!

The Holy Bible, New King James Version


The praise tune used in the song "Babylon" which Don McLean sings on his American Pie album has frequently been misattributed, according to David W. Stone in Song of Exile: The Enduring Mystery of Psalm 137. "Some hymnals identify it as a 'traditional Jewish melody, even an 'Israeli melody.' American Pie's liner notes mistakenly attribute the tune to William Billings, perhaps because it somewhat resembles 'When Jesus Wept.'

"The actual source of the version popularized by McLean is quite surprising: a piece titled 'The Muses Delight: Catches, Glees, Canzonets and Canons,' written in the late eighteenth century by an English composer and Oxford professor of music named Dr. Philip Hayes."

In Song of Exile. David Stowe uses a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary approach that combines personal interviews, historical overview, and textual analysis to demonstrate the psalm's enduring place in popular culture.