A frind of mine, John Bachmann of Chapel Hill, performs this song better than anyone I've heard. He performs it as a narrative, with his 12-string going and singing occasional verses. He calls it "Midnight on the Sea" and attributes it to Huddie Ledbetter, AKA Leadbelly. I'm not going to enter everything here, because the power has gone off once after entering most of it, then after re-entering but before I sent, I froze up and had to restart. So here are the essentials. (I looked up John's address and requested info on the song - if he sends it I will forward to you. Otherwise, I have a low-fi cassette tape of him performing it a few years ago.)

"It was midnight on the sea,
the band played 'Nearer my God to Thee'
Farewell, Titanic, fare thee well:
(repeat)

Then some narrative about Jack Johnson being heavyweight champion of the world in 1912, going to Europe, being afraid of water and choosing the unsinkable ship, going to the dock, and being told.

"When Jack Johnson tried to get on board,
Cap'n said 'We don't haul no coal,'
Farewell, Titanic, fare thee well:
(repeat)
Then the boat leaves port, Captain Lord gets drunk and goes to his cabin, and
"Well, Titanic came 'round a curve,
And she run into a great big iceberg,
Farewell, Titanic, fare thee well:
(repeat)
More narrative with the lifeboats etc, and
"It was midnight on the sea,
The band played 'nearer my God to thee,
Farewell, Titanic, fare thee well,
(repeat)
Then
"There was lifeboats all around,
Men sayin' 'Don't let women and chillun go down,"
Farewell, Titanic, fare thee well;
There was lifeboats all around,
And even unsinkable Molly Brown,
Farewell, Titanic, fare thee well."

Then the narrative describes Jack Johnson going out for a newspaper, and reading about the sinking of the Titanic, and running back to his apartment, grabbing his wife, and saying

"When Jack Johnson heard that news, he said
Honey get me my dancing shoes,
Farewell, Titanic, fare thee well:
(repeat)

Sometimes, if John is really rocking and hammering the Guild, he'll include a Leadbelly field holler, like "keep your hands off her" along about this part. Then he describes how Leadbelly took this song to his publisher, and the publisher asked him why he wrote a funny song about a great tragedy, and Leadbelly tells him that the great thing about the Titanic was that not a single black person lost his life.

For the music, I'd have to get my guitar and work out the parts - I don't have one here. I haven't played it for a while, but I can work on it for you. I might even locate the tape - it's not John's best performance, but it's a signature song of his and I've never heard him not stop the show with it. I've never heard about the 97 feet of rope - I'd like to know if we're referring to the same song.
Bob Haight
pioneer@kans.com