Noah Built the Ark

Vocals-Dave, Cathy, Paul and Win; guitar-Dave; bass-Forrest; drum-Rich, with Sam, Dave, Cathy clapping This comes from a field recording of a woman at Parchman Women's Correctional Farm, Miss., in 1939. We learned it from recordings by the Double Decker String Band and Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis. Other, more religious versions of this song include a humorous listing of the animals boarding the ark.

Sittin' by the river on the levee, waitin' till the steamboat comes down. Them cotton bales are rollin' mighty heavy, miles and miles around. Thought I heard the steamboat when she landed, landed on the levee below. Sittin' by the river on the levee, waitin' till the steamboat comes down. Noah, Noah, what a foolish man, built his ark on sandy land. I said, who built the ark? Brother Noah, Noah I said, who built the ark? Brother Noah, Noah Brother Noah built the ark. Moses stood by the Red Sea shore, smotin' at the water with a 2 X 4. Matthew, Martha, Luke and John, all them sinners is dead and gone. Mary, Martha, sittin' in the shade, thinkin' bout the money that I ain't made.