The Titanic (song)

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"The Titanic"
Language English
Original artist William and Versey Smith 1927

"The Titanic" (also known as "It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down" and "Titanic (Husbands and Wives)") is a folk song and children's song most known for being sung in the United States at summer camp. "The Titanic" is based on the sinking of the RMS Titanic which sank on April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg. There are several regional variations on the song. According to Newman I. White's 1928 book American Negro Folk-Songs, "The Titanic" has been traced back to 1915 or 1916 in Hackleburg, Alabama. Other versions from around 1920 are documented in the Frank C. Brown Collection at Duke University in North Carolina. The earliest known recording, titled "When That Great Ship Went Down", is from August 1927 and recorded by William and Versey Smith in Chicago, Illinois.[1]. According to Jeff Place, in his notes for the American Anthology of Folk Music: "African-American musicians, in particular, found it noteworthy and ironic that company policies had kept Blacks from the doomed ship; the sinking was also attributed by some to divine retribution."

Contents

[edit] Lyrics

The song is sung in an upbeat tone despite its subject,[2] an example of schadenfreude on the part of African American singers. The song's chorus provides an example of the song's style.

Oh, they built the ship Titanic to sail the ocean blue,
And they thought they had a ship that the water would never leak through,
But the Lord's almighty hand said this ship would never land
Oh it was sad when the great ship went down!

Chorus:

Oh, it was sad, it was sad; it was sad, it was sad;
It was sad when the great ship went down, to the bottom of the ...
Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives,
It was sad when that great ship went down.


Oh, they sailed away from England, and were almost to the shore,
When the rich refused to associate with the poor,
So they put them down below, where they were the first to go.
It was sad when the great ship went down.

The ship was full of sin, and the sides about to burst,
When the captain shouted "Women and children first!"
Then the captain tried to wire, but the wireless was on fire.
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Lady Astor turned around as she watched her husband drown
and the boat began to make a gurgling sound,
so she wrapped herself in mink as the boat began to sink.
It was sad when the great ship went down.

So they swung the lifeboats out o'er the deep and raging sea,
And the band struck up with "Nearer, My God, to Thee",
Little children wept and cried, as the waves swept, o'er the side,
It was sad when the great ship went down.

The captain stood on deck with a teardrop in his eye,
As the last lifeboat went out, he waved them all goodbye.
And he knew he'd made a slip so he went down with the ship.
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Oh the moral to be gained from this tale of woe and pain,
Is that if you're rich you should not be so vain.
For in the good Lord's eyes, you're the same as other guys.
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Oh they built another ship they called, "Titanic II."
They were sure this time that the water would never leak thorough.
So they launched it with a cheer, and it sank right off the pier.
It was sad when the great ship went down.[1]

[edit] Recordings

Oh, they built the ship Titanic they built her out of steal, And they said no storm shall ever break her peir, But the Lord's almighty hand said this ship would never sail Oh it was sad when the great ship went down!

Chorus:

   Oh, it was sad, it was sad; it was sad, it was sad;
   It was sad when the great ship went down, to the bottom of the ...
   Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives,
   It was sad when that great ship went down.


Oh, they sailed away from England, and were almost to the shore, When the rich refused to associate with the poor, So they put them down below, where they were the first to go. It was sad when the great ship went down.

The ship was full of sin, and the sides about to burst, When the captain shouted "Women and children first!" Then the captain tried to wire, but the wireless was on fire. It was sad when the great ship went down.

Lady Astor turned around as she watched her husband drown and the boat began to make a gurgling sound, so she wrapped herself in mink as the boat began to sink. It was sad when the great ship went down.

So they swung the lifeboats out o'er the deep and raging sea, And the band struck up with "Nearer, My God, to Thee", Little children wept and cried, as the waves swept, o'er the side, It was sad when the great ship went down.

The captain stood on deck with a teardrop in his eye, As the last lifeboat went out, he waved them all goodbye. And he knew he'd made a slip so he went down with the ship. It was sad when the great ship went down.

Oh the moral to be gained from this tale of woe and pain, Is that if you're rich you should not be so vain. For in the good Lord's eyes, you're the same as other guys. It was sad when the great ship went down.

Oh they built another ship they called, "Titanic II." They were sure this time that the water would never leak thorough. So they launched it with a cheer, and it sank right off the pier. It was sad when the great ship went down.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Songs for Scouts to Sing
  1. ^  Habing, B.. The Great Titanic - American Folk Song. PotW.org. Retrieved on December 2, 2005.
  2. ^  Levang, Rex. It Was Sad When the Great Ship Went Down. Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved on December 2, 2005.
  3. ^  White, Newman I. (1928). American Negro Folk-Songs. Harvard University Press.