Oh, they built the ship Titanic lord to last a thousand years / but the good lord could not save them from their fears

is an alternate opening couplet.

Also the lines When the rich refused to associate with the poor;
So they put them down below, where they were first to go

As a small child and already a socialist, i thought it was the rich who got sent below, for refusing to associate with the poor.

Note: a cousin (3x removed) was on the Carpathia(?) that went and picked up survivors.