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“The Great Titanic” (Carter Family)

A distinct song with the same name, this country version of the Titanic story incorporates a captain’s dream element that will be reprised by a 21st century Titanic song (featured in the next post). Pathos weighs heavier on this song. Its earnest presentation doesn’t lend itself to the boisterous or rollicking treatments that the above song receives. It did become a family favorite for some, however, as evidenced by this clip from “Pop Goes the Country,” where Loretta Lynn’s mother, Clara Butcher, discusses it as a song she learned in grammar school and taught to her children.

Lyrics

“The Titanic”

Huddie Ledbetter, Lead Belly, first performed his song about the Titanic in 1912. He said it was the first piece he learned to play on 12-string guitar. The song contains a verse about the African American prize fighter, Jack Johnson, being denied passage on the ship because of racial prejudice. Lead Belly would omit this verse when playing for white audiences.

Lyrics

“Down with the Old Canoe”

The title for Biel’s book draws from this song, performed here by the Dixon Brothers. “Down with the Old Canoe” places the Titanic disaster squarely within a Christian salvation drama. The song contends that you are, essentially, on the Titanic and it is Jesus alone who can save you.

Lyrics

Charlie Louvin added this song to a collection of murder ballads and disaster songs he produced late in his career. I’ll include that version in a Spotify playlist in the next post.

“God Moves on the Water”

Blind Willie Johnson performs this blues classic, which pulls many standard themes into its short verses. Its title phrase will be incorporated in a later song about the disaster.

“Shine”

Although not a song, per se, “Shine” presents a strong candidacy for the most popular African American vernacular poem of the 20th century. A representative of the “toast” tradition, which Pat has discussed in regard to “Stag-o-lee,” it is exceedingly profane and vulgar. That is in many respects the point. It tells the story of the Titanic mostly as a setting for the superhuman exploits of its lead character. In this version, Shine escapes the disaster after bidding a not-so-fond farewell to those about to die on the ship. He soon finds himself at the corner of 63rd and Cottage Grove on the South Side of Chicago. That intersection is probably more fitting for when Rudy Ray Moore performed it than it was for 1912, but historical accuracy is decidedly not the point of “Shine.”

Be advised: very NSFW.

Next up

In Part Two, we’ll explore songs where the Titanic‘s story inspired songwriters 60 or more years beyond its day.