The tale of Noah and the ark is one of the Bible’s perennially popular stories. Children’s books, novels, comics, TV shows, and even movie novelizations are forever emerging onto the scene, depicting the story of the great flood. There’s even a motion picture out right now, featuring a modern take on the story. It may not be too surprising, then, that Noah’s ark has also inspired a virtual boatload of songs in the collections of the Library of Congress.
Since Noah is, after all, a Bible character, it’s only natural that most of the songs about him are spirituals expressing religion and morality. As an example, listen to the song “Who Built the Ark?” recorded by Alan Lomax from the Georgia singer Bessie Jones in 1962.
“Who Built the Ark?” teaches an important lesson, stressing Noah’s hard work and his steadfast obedience to God despite being considered a fool by his neighbors. It concludes with the moral:
Noah obeyed everything God said
And all his family was saved that day.
There are other lessons to be learned from the Noah story, too. In another of Bessie Jones’s songs, “Old Ark’s A Moverin’,” life is likened to the ark, a moving ship on which our salvation depends. Walking on the ark is treacherous, and must be handled with care:
Mind, my sister, how you walk on across
Your feet may slip, and your soul get lost!
Other spirituals about Noah take a more general approach, recounting the story in some detail. On December 20, 1940, the Golden Gate Quartet performed one such song in the very building where I’m writing these words. That evening the “Gates,” as they were known, gave a concert with Josh White in the Library of Congress’s historic Coolidge Auditorium. Billed as “Program of Negro Folk Song with Commentary,” the concert included not only the quartet and Josh White, but also learned commentary by Sterling Brown, Alain Locke, and Alan Lomax. It was a celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, which finalized the emancipation of American slaves.
For their third song at the historic concert, the Gates launched into “Noah,” a spiritual which exemplifies their signature sound. Listen as the Gates vamp on the phrase “God’s gonna ride on the rain and tide,” adding melodic humming over the top. They underpin that sound with what the group’s leader Willie Johnson termed “vocal percussion” before launching into the main lyrics, creating a wonderfully complex vocal sound. (The song, which will play in the player below, is part of the AFC collection item numbered AFC 1942/011: AFS 06093.)
Songs about Noah could also carry an apocalyptic message, predicting the destruction of the world by fire. On May 17, 1939, about thirteen miles outside Merryville, Louisiana, along the highway into DeRidder, John and Ruby Lomax stopped at the New Zion Baptist Church to record Deacon Sylvester Johnson and a group of singers including Rufus Spearman. One of the songs they recorded, “Home on the Rock,” ended with the lines:
God showed Noah by the rainbow sign
No more water but fire next time
Sadly, the Lomaxes ran out of disc space before this line was sung, as you can hear at this link. But they dutifully wrote out the lyrics in their fieldnotes on the trip, preserving the full song for the AFC’s archive.
It’s not the only time this couplet has been collected by the Library of Congress fieldworkers. In fact, the couplet transcends song genres: while it seems to have originated in spirituals like “Home on the Rock,” it also appears in secular songs, and even in work songs. As an example, listen to a track-lining song recorded by Herbert Halpert from railroad worker Henry Hankins in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1939. (The song, which you can play in the player below, is numbered AFC 1939/005: AFS 02946 A1.)
The couplet “God showed Noah by the rainbow sign/ No more water but fire next time” is an interesting summary of, and commentary on, Genesis 9:9-17, in which God shows Noah the first rainbow and tells him it is the sign of a new covenant: God will never again destroy the earth by flood. In the Bible, God does not mention fire at all, which makes the song’s invocation of fire stand out, especially to alert and educated hearers. It has been seen as a reference to the Second Coming as described in the Second Epistle of Peter or in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians. More generally, though, it’s a sardonic acknowledgement that God only promised not to destroy the Earth by water, which leaves other possibilities open, and that there are still wicked people in the world to be punished “next time.” It leaves unsaid who those people might be, allowing African Americans in slavery and under Jim Crow laws to comment on the wickedness of their oppressors clandestinely, while on the surface they were just telling wholesome bible stories. Such eloquent but coded communication, transforming spirituals into hidden messages of protest, is a hallmark of African American folklore, a fact which has been recognized by black scholars for generations.
[We have one more example of this couplet in a song about Noah, at the 43:00 minute mark of the webcast below. It’s from 2005, when the Birmingham Sunlights performed in the Coolidge Auditorium as part of the American Folklife Center’s Homegrown Concert Series. They sang the spiritual “It’s Gonna Rain,” using it to demonstrate two different styles of rap vocals.
View the Birmingham Sunlights webcast.]
Bible stories provided the basis for both songs and sermons, and sometimes fieldworkers recorded long improvised narratives that could be considered part of either genre. One example of such a masterful sermon-in-song was recorded by John A. and Alan Lomax from Norman Haskins at the State Penitentiary in Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 22, 1934. It makes the Noah story into an apocalyptic vision involving angels doing God’s bidding: they instruct Noah to build the ark and then bring clouds to earth as rain. Haskins’s song may be difficult to understand, so we follow the audio with a transcription of the lyrics.
This virtuoso performance of what appears to be an original piece is made all the more poignant by the fact that it is, as far as we know, the only recording Haskins ever made. For that reason, I’ll give him the last word in this post on songs about Noah’s ark…but I’ll have more Noah’s ark songs to share next week!
(Haskins’s song, which will play in the player below, is cataloged as AFC 1935/002: AFS 00270 b1)
The transcription follows:
Noah and the Flood Chorus:
Well, you bound, I’m bound… the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound… the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound… the kingdom… Well, my God sent Noah ten angels from the throne of glory, Down in the poor, Said to work among the fields of the poor. God sent Noah ten angels from the thrones of glory To help old Noah to build a… Noah was building the ark one hundred and twenty years. Said, had one hundred and twenty nails to drive, Said, had one hundred twenty rooms complete. Said, “Oh, Noah, what you been doing?” “Well, all the time you been teaching the people, Lord, to repent.“ My God’s gonna ‘stroy this world by water; They call me a fool all over the land. But the old man kept on building for a home in the kingdom land. Chorus: Well, you bound, for the…kingdom land. Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, my God sent Noah ten angels from the throne of glory, Down in the poor. Said to work among the fields of the poor. Said, God sent Noah ten angels from the throne of glory. “Ah, bring your wife and the three sons and their wives. “ “Ah, what you gonna do?” “One day, brother Noah, I’m gonna prove to the world I’m God of all power.” God almighty open, no man can shut. God almighty shut, no man can open. God, all o’ my life. The angels take their vows. Said, into the flood, He was sending one angel, Lord, way east, He was sending one angel, Lord, way north, He was sending one angel, well, way south, He was sending one angel, said, way west. Well, six angels come over to hold up the folds of the clouds and let water come down Just like a flood. “Well, six angels, I want you to hold out the folds of the field. Let water fall off like a mountain. Well, fourth angel, well, third angel, well, the second angel, well, first angel, I want you to gather up the little pieces of ten clouds Ah, get ’em in a solid, March to the fields.“ Said, water is falling, the water is rising. The water got up by the fields of the door. Said, the death went up to the upper floor. When they got there, said, the water was there. Ah, they couldn’t go no higher. They then looked up and seen the ark coming. That they called the old man a fool about building. They began to scream and cry. Said, “Oh, Noah, let your ark sail, sail thisaway. Lord, please don’t let the world…“ Noah said, “No, no,” said, “Remember one hundred and twenty years ago. Said, “Told this time would be.“ Said, “Called me a fool all over the land.” But the old man kept on building for a home in the kingdom land.” Chorus: Well, you bound, bound…kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom… Well, you bound, I’m bound…the kingdom land.
Comments (11)
My favorite Noah song is “Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord” as recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford.
What? Not a “ship load” of songs? 😉
I learned at least two “Noah” camp songs in my many years as a Girl Scout and camp counselor/director. At least one purported to be based on a “Negro Spiritual” – “Rise, Shine, Give God Your Glory.”
Great article! I recall that Francis Lee Utley specialized in folklore about Noah, including the dove. He published an article on “Dink’s Song” (“If I had wings like Noah’s dove”) in a Festschrift for Margaret Schlauch in 1966. His article is as beautiful as the song!
Thanks for this and the next blog on Noah — it is great fun to see the way you have connected many dots in your narrative. Well, here is one more distant dot: the stained glass designs for the Old Mariners Church in Detroit — illustrations in this blog — are for the house of worship that saw the memorial service for the 29 dead from the loss of the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10, 1975. As Gordon Lightfoot sang, this was the hall where the bell rang 29 times on November 24, 1975, to mourn the loss.
I know most of the words to a song and am looking for the entire song. “The good lord said to Noah I got a thing or to to say about the building of a boat and a little bit of dough that you got stashed away that your saving for a rainy day you better hear the things i say or the deodorant in the bathroom cabinet wont even keep you dry I want you to get two of every creature in the zoo the birds and the bees and the crimmy creepy crawly things. so Noah got busy on a do it yourself project and when the weatherman said it would be clear and dry Noah got drought flu right away he new that a storm would brew and was due on tomorrow night….
Thats all I remember I was born in 1962 and I had the song on a 45 when I was young I dont know the artist can anyone help?
as a child in choir we sand a song about Noah that started
One upon a time long ago long ago
Old Mr. Noah took his wife by the hand
Saying Come my dear, come away come away
come away and leave this land
Call your sons call your daughters
call the animals to the ark
soon the clouds will be gathering gathering
and the sky is growing dark
………………………………..
the windows of heaven opened opened
a great wind blew the earth to dry
the little bird went a fluttering fluttering
up into the sky
…………………………
praise the Lord sons and daughters
praise the Lord for he is good
praise the Lord for he has saved us
from the terrors of the flood
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND THIS SONG WITH MUSIC??
Hello Anita,
I’ve seen others asking for that song as well in various song forums. Many of them were from the UK, which led me to believe it was a British song. The BBC used to have a program called “Singing Together” which put out quarterly song pamphlets. The Summer 1967 pamphlet had one called “Old Mr. Noah” which just could be the song you’re asking about. However, I have never seen that page of the pamphlet so I don’t know if it’s the song you’re seeking. The Library of Congress only has scattered issues of this publication, and does not have the Summer 1967 issue, but another library, especially one in Britain, might have it. You can also usually find it on ebay or similar sites, and often you can contact the seller to confirm the lyrics before you buy. Good luck!
I’m looking for a children’s musical from 35 years ago. It had 100% chance of rain in it and Hey Hey Noah, what are you buildin’ ,Noah I only wish I knew the name and could find if it is still in print. Can anyone help?
Has no on ever heard the poem “Once upon a time they say the rain came down day after day. Forty days and forty nights until not a dry spot was insight. So Noah built an ark so wide that all the animals could stay inside. Two by two they came into the ark to get out of the rain. Lions, tiger’s and bears they all came in pairs. It must have been a sight to see all the animals side by side peacefully. Now I don’t know if this is completely accurate. Would really like to get the original verse.
Thanks for your comment, Birdean. I believe that poem is the text of the book Noah’s Ark by Dorothy Bell Briggs. The Library of Congress has several editions, the earliest of which is from 1941:
https://lccn.loc.gov/41016604?loclr=blogflt
I’m not sure if any edition is in print, but used copies aren’t rare. Good luck finding it!
In third grade I learned the BEST hymn about Noah >>> “NOAH WAS A GOOD MAN” by F.C. Bradin in 1957 !!!!! I am in my sixties now, but still remember all the lyrics & melody and sing it and play my folk guitar ! >>> SO SAD, CRYING >>> Can’t find it on ANY music web site !!!!!!! PLEASE someone > put it up at YouTube ASAP !!!!! THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU !!!!!!!