Ol' Man River", written by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, is a song in the 1927 musical Show Boat that contrasts the struggles and hardships of African Americans with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River.

It is sung from the point of view of a black stevedore on a showboat and is the most famous song from the show. The stevedore "Joe" who travels with the boat, comments on the action, as if saying, "This has happened, but the river keeps rolling on anyway.