Lyr ADD: One More River and That Wide River is...

Subject: One More River and That Wide River is Jordan
From:
Date: 20 May 97 - 08:51 AM

Searching for the lyrics to a camp song I barely remember:
Some of it goes like this:

"Oh Mrs. Noah, she got drunk, One More River to Cross
She fell right out of the captains bunk
One More River to Cross

CHORUS

One More River
And that wide river is Jordan
One More River
There's One More River to Cross!

Thanks for your help!

---

Click for lyrics in Digital Tradition

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Subject: RE: One More River and That Wide River is Jordan
From:
Date: 21 May 97 - 02:52 PM

The way I remember it [hazily] there are verses for every number from two to ten:

The animals came in two by two
(There's one more river to cross)
The elephant and the kangaroo
(One more river to cross)

Refrain

The animals came in eight by eight
"Hurry up!" says Noah, "Or I'll shut the gate"

Hope this helps a bit...I'll pick my brother's brain for more...

Subject: Lyr Add: ONE MORE RIVER
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 22 May 97 - 09:51 AM

I found this in "The Fireside Book of Fun and Game Songs" c1974, Simon and Schuster, Marie Winn, Editor. The song is not attributed. Verses for 6 through 10, as mentioned by DrWord, weren't there...Tiger

ONE MORE RIVER

Each stanza has "There's one more river to cross" as second and fourth lines.

Old Noah built himself an ark,
There's one more river to cross;
He built it out of hick'ry bark,
There' one more river to cross.

CHORUS (after each stanza)
One more river,
And that's the river of Jordan;
One more river,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in one by one,
There's one…
The elephant chewed on a hot cross bun,
There's one…

The animals went in two by two,
The anteater and the kangaroo,

The animals went in three by three,
The monkey and the chimpanzee,

The animals went in four by four,
The hippopotamus stuck in the door,

The animals went in five by five,
Noah's sons and all their wives,

And as they talked of this and that,
The ark bumped into Mount Ararat,

Oh, Mrs. Noah she got drunk,
And kicked the old gentleman out of his bunk,

Subject: Lyr Add: ONE MORE RIVER
From: Bert Hansell
Date: 22 May 97 - 10:45 AM

From the YHA Songbook, 1954.

Old Noah once did build an ark,
One more river to cross,
And patched it up with hickory bark,
One more river to cross

Chorus...
One more river, one more river to Jordan
One more river, one more river to cross.

The animals went in one by one
The elephant chewing a carraway bun

....two by two
The Rinoceros and the kangaroo

...three by three
The bear, the bug and the bumble bee

...four
The fat hippopotamus stuck in the door

...five
The bumble bee was all alive

...six
The donkey laughed at the monkey's tricks

...seven
Said the flea to the elephant "Who're you shovin'?"

..eight
They came with a rush for it was so late

...nine
And Noah began to pull the line

...ten
But the skipper blew the whistle then

And now the voyage did begin
As Noah pulled the gangway in

Old Noah at the helm he sat
Till he bumped her on Mount Ararat

The old ark was stranded high and dry
The passengers shouted out "Good-bye"

Subject: Lyr Add: DIDN'T OLD NOAH BUILD THE ARK?
From: rich r
Date: 22 May 97 - 08:56 PM

The verse pattern and content of this song seems to have substantial overlap with the verses to "Who Built The Ark? Noah, Noah" as found in Ruth Crawford Seeger's book AMERICAN FOLK SONGS FOR CHILDREN. I expect the verses are interchangeable. It would be interesting to know the origins and divergence of both.

Now didn't old Noah build the ark?
Built it out of hickory bark.

He built it long, both wide and tall,
Plenty of room for the large and small

He found him an axe and hammer too,
Began to cut and began to hew

And every time that hammer ring,
Noah shout and Noah sing.

Now in come the animals two by two,
Hippopotamus and kangaroo

...3 by 3
Two big cats and a bumble bee

...4 by 4
Two through the window and two through the door

...5 by 5
Four little sparrows and the redbird's wife

...6 by 6
Elephant laughed at the monkey's tricks

...7 by 7
Four from home and the rest from heaven

...8 by 8
Some were on time and the others were late

...9 by 9
Some was a shouting and some was a crying

...10 by 10
Five black roosters and five black hens

Now Noah says, go shut that door,
The rain's started dropping and we can't take more.

OK so it violates the tenets that only 2 of each were allowed and that all the animals were included. Were the fish, marine mammals, nudibranchs, sponges, etc. left to fend for themselves? But then, it's only a counting song.

rich r

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 19-Mar-02.

Subject: RE: One More River and That Wide River is Jordan
From: Ricky Rackin
Date: 23 May 97 - 09:35 PM

I HATE parodies but remember the Middletown Levines singing "Fried Liver"......"one more Liver defrost" Anybody remember that one? Ricky

Subject: Lyr Add: ONE MORE RIVER
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Apr 02 - 06:01 PM

Lyr. Add: ONE MORE RIVER

Now ladies, give this ark a tow,
There's one more river to cross,
Just pull the string and let it go,
There's one more river to cross.

Chorus:
One more river, and that's the river of Jordan,
One more river, there's one more river to cross.

Old Noah, he did build an ark,
There's one more river to cross,
He built it out of hickory bark,
There's one more river to cross.

Old Noah had to load his stock,
There's one more river to cross,
He anchored to a great big rock,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in one by one,
There's one more river to cross,
The elephant chewin' on a caraway bun,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in two by two,
There's one more river to cross,
The rhinoceras and the kangaroo,
There's one more river too cross.

The animals went in three by three,
There's one more river to cross,
The bat, the bear and the bumblebee,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in four by four,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah got mad and hollered for more,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in five by five,
There's one more river to cross,
With Saratoga trunks they did arrive,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in six by six,
There's one more river to cross,
The hyena laughed at the monkey's tricks,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in seven by seveen,
There's one more river to cross,
Says the ant to the elephant who are you shovin'?
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in eight by eight,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah hollered it's a-gettin' mighty late,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in nine by nine,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah hollered for to cut that line,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in ten by ten,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah blowed his whistle then,
There's one more river to cross.

Then the voyage did begin,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah pulled his gangplank in,
There's one more river to cross.

They never knowed where they was at,
There's one more river to cross,
Till the old ark bumped on Ararat,
There's one more river to cross.

This version is more fully developed than versions in the DT and Forum. The 1st verse is from another song. Ms. from Mrs Maggie Morgan, Arkansas, 1942; heard it sung "about 1890." From Vance Randolph, 1982, Ozark Folk Songs, vol. 2, version B, pp. 380-382. Higginson, 1867, gave a Negro version in his article in the Atlantic Monthly. "Pull the String" appeared in a songbook in 1897. Others suggest the song was originally from minstrel or tent shows. The animals vary from version to version, as does the type of bun chewed by the elephant.

Subject: Lyr Add: ONE MORE RIVER
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Apr 02 - 06:24 PM

Other lines from Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs:
The elephant a-leanin on the kangaroo
Polecat a-talkin' to the bumblebee.

The oldest version in Higginson, 1867, doesn't mention animals. It is a boat song.

Lyr. Add: ONE MORE RIVER

O, Jordan bank was a great old bank!
Dere ain't but one more river to cross.
We have some valiant soldier here.
Dere ain't etc.
O, Jordan stream will never run dry,
Dere ain't etc.
*Dere's a hill on my leff, and he catch on my right,
Dere ain't but one more river to cross.

"Dat mean, if you go on de leff, go to (de)'struction, and if you go on the right, go to God, for sure." T. W. Higginson, Atlantic Monthly, June, 1867, song X. From http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TWH/Higg.html.
Negro Spirituals

Subject: RE: One More River and That Wide River is Jordan
From: masato sakurai
Date: 11 May 02 - 01:46 AM

"One More Ribber For To Cross" (text only) is in the Levy Collection (Click here).

Title: Song Sheet (1) Nancy Lee (2) One More Ribber For To Cross. [damaged copies]
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: na
Publication: Philadelphia: A.W. Auner, Song Publisher & Printer, n.d..
Form of Composition: strophic with chorus
na First line (1) Of all the wives as e'er you know First line of chorus (1) The sailor's wife, the sailor's star shall be! First line (2) Ole Noah, once he built de ark First line of chorus (2) Dar's one more ribber for to cross Subject: Spouses

~Masato

Subject: RE: One More River and That Wide River is Jordan
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 May 05 - 06:11 PM

There is great similiariy to each other of the "One More Ribber (River) versions about Noah and the Ark, including the one mentioned in the Levy collection by Masato. This suggests an original song sheet source.

Two unrelated song sheets are pasted together, posting above by Masato; "Nancy Lee" was published by Auner, "One More Ribber" by W. F. Shaw, both Philadelphia; 19th c.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: One More River and That Wide River is...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Mar 08 - 03:00 PM

Several fairly recent gospel songs share the title, "One More River," but do not involve Noah and the Ark.

ONE MORE RIVER No attribution, Soul Stirrers

One more river to cross
Before I'll reach my journey's end
One more river to cross
Before I'll be free from sin

One more mountain to climb
Before I finish this race
One more river to cross
Before I see my savior's face

One more river to cross
Before I'll be free from fear
One more river to cross
Before I'll be through shedding tears

One more mountain to climb
Before I'll be with the blessed
One more river to cross
Before I take my rest.

And I've got one more river
I've got one more river
I've got one more mountain
Before I take my rest

Heavy burden down here
They all make just a-one more river
Trials is a-one more river
Disappointments is a-one more mountain
Before I take my rest
One more river to cross.

From www.lyricsmania.com.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: One More River and That Wide River is...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Mar 08 - 03:26 PM

Lyr. Add: ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS
No attribution

Oh, you got Jesus, hold him fast
One more river to cross
Oh, better love was never told
One more river to cross
Tis stronger than an iron hand
One more river to cross
Tis sweeter than honeycomb
One more river to cross.

Oh, wasn't that a wide river
River of Jordan, Lord,
Wide river
There's one more river to cross.

Oh, the good old chariot passing by
One more river to cross
She jarred the earth an' shook the sky
One more river to cross
The good old chariot passing by.

One more river to cross
I pray, good Lord, shall I be one?
One more river to cross.

Oh, wasn't that a wide river
River of Jordan, Lord,
Wide river
There's one more river to cross.

One More River

See thread "Oh, Wasn't that a Wide Ribber?," thread 41329, Wide Ribber

A large number of interrelated hymns and gospel. Very hard to select a thread; similarity of title was my decision here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: One More River and That Wide River is...
From: Lighter
Date: 21 Jun 23 - 07:20 AM

George K. Ward, A.B. Kelly, John C. Pennington, eds., Carmina Princetonia: The Princeton Song Book (1869):

                        
                           THE ARK.

                   Class of ‘65’s glee club amusement.

            [Tune: “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”]

O, Noah built himself an Ark,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
O, Noah built himself an Ark,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
O, Noah built himself an Ark,
And made it all of hick’ry bark,
And we’ll all feel gay when Noah comes sailing home again,
And we’ll all feel gay when Noah comes sailing home!

[Similarly JL:]


Now into this Ark the animals went,
In just the order they were sent.

The animals went in one by one,
And Japhet with a big bass-drum.

The animals went in two by two,
The Elephant and the kangaroo.

The animals went in three by three,
The Hippopotamus and bumble-bee.

[Four is missing.]

The animals went in fives by fives,
Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and their wives.

And as they talked on this and that,
The Ark it bumped on Ararat.

Oh! Mrs. Noah, she got drunk,
And kicked the old gentleman out of his bunk.

Oh! Noah, he went on a spree,
And banished Ham to Afrikee.

Perhaps you think there’s another verse,
But there an’t [sic].