The Titanic (song)

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title=The Titanic
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language=English
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original_artist=William and Versey Smith 1927
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Misc=Laws D 24

"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 about the sinking of the RMS Titanic which sank on April 15,1912 after striking an iceberg.

Background

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. Early recordings include Ernest Stoneman's "The Titanic" in September, 1924 and William and Versey Smith's "When That Great Ship Went Down" in August 1927.ref|basicinfo. 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."

Lyrics

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

Recordings

* William and Versey Smith on "Anthology of American Folk Music", Smithsonian Folkways 1952
* Lead Belly on "The Titanic" (Volume 4)
* Bessie Jones on "The Alan Lomax Collection Sampler" Rounder 1997
* Washboard Jungle on "The Wash Cycle" (Washboard Jungle Records, 1993)

References

*cite web | author=Habing, B. | title=The Great Titanic - American Folk Song | work=PotW.org | url=http://www.potw.org/archive/potw76a.html | accessdate=September 28 | accessyear=2008
*cite web | author=Levang, Rex | title=It Was Sad When the Great Ship Went Down | work=Minnesota Public Radio | url=http://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/9901_titanic/index.shtml | accessdate=December 2 | accessyear=2005
*cite book | author=White, Newman I. | title=American Negro Folk-Songs | publisher=Harvard University Press | year=1928

External links

* [http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/titan7.html The Titanic (It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down)] – Lyrics.
* [http://www.gargaro.com/Titanic/lyrics.html The Sinking Of The Titanic] – Music and lyrics.
* [http://www.campzoememories.com/zlyric.html Camp Zoe Memories - Titanic] – Alternate lyrics.
* [http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/staffpages/shirk/bus.html Baby Boomer Bus Songs] – Alternate lyrics.