Lyr Add: Uncle Noah's Ark

Subject: Lyr Add: Uncle Noah's Ark
From: cnd
Date: 23 Oct 24 - 10:27 AM

Here's an old children's song, most recently popularized by The Wiggles, called Uncle Noah's Ark. Below is a version of the text printed in the Max Hunter Folksong collection; you can also listen to it here.

VERSE 1
Well, a long, long time ago
As you ole folks should know
Uncle Noah built himself an Ark
For forty days an' nights
Th rain it was a sight
Animals nearly tore th Ark apart

CHORUS:
Well, th duck went quack, th cow went moo
Th roosters, cocky-doodle-doo
The ole tom cat, he raised an awful rowe
Th piggies sqealed, th billy goat blahed
Th bullfrog said, biggest run we ever had
Uncle Noah's Arks th mad house now
O, th horses an' th cattle, fowls of th air
Even th long eared donkey was there
Quack, quack, moo, moo
Hee-haw, cock-a-doodle-doo
All was there in Uncle Noah's Ark

VERSE 2
Well, at last th sun did shine
Thru th windows bright an' fine
Uncle Noah thouht it was time t' land
Well, he couldn't get open th door
All th animals got sore
Th ole lion let out a roar t' beat-th-band

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Uncle Noah's Ark
From: cnd
Date: 23 Oct 24 - 02:51 PM

While I have a pretty large collection of Christian and country music on vinyl, I only have one version of this song in my collection, from the album In Person by The Arthur Smith Show (Starday SLP 241, 1963). It's done as a sort of comic-relief number by Ray Atkins, who performs it in the character of Quackerjack, a Donald Duck-soundalike. The band behind him sings and plays well, and if you're willing to tolerate the comedic bits, it's pretty fun -- below is my transcription. I'll work on sharing an audio link if anyone is interested. The credits below, from the disc and album jacket, almost certainly refer only to their arrangement, and not the work as a whole.

Uncle Noah's Ark - Ray Atkins
(Arthur Smith - Starday - BMI)

Well, a long long time ago
As everyone should know
Uncle Noah built himself an ark
For forty days and nights
The rain was sure a fright
The animals almost tore the ark apart (Are you ready? Get ready now. I'm ready!)

CHORUS (x2)
The ducks went quack
The cows went moo
The rooster cock-a-doodle-doo
The old tom cat sure raised an awful row (Wow. Sooie. Kitty!)
The pigs did squeal
The Billy goat baah-d
The bullfrog said "Biggest rain we ever had"
Uncle Noah's Ark's a mad house now
Oh, the horses and cattle
The fowl of the air
Even the long eared donkey was there
The ducks went quack
The cows went moo
The rooster cock-a-doodle-doo
All were there at Uncle Noah's Ark

All were there at Uncle Noah's Ark

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Uncle Noah's Ark
From: cnd
Date: 23 Oct 24 - 05:11 PM

The song seems to have originated from the Gene Autry film series "Phantom Empire," and sheet music printed in 1935 credits Autry and Smiley Burnette as songwriters. It wouldn't be the first time a trad. song has been claimed by others, though. With archive.org down for the moment, I can't investigate further, but I didn't find any examples on newspapers.com predating 1936 (as part of an American Legion Minstrel show; see Express and Standard [Newport, VT] Jan 17, 1936, p. 1). Note that it is not included in the 1933 Silly Symphony film "Father Noah's Ark," which was advertized in some period literature as "Uncle Noah's Ark."

Listen to an interpretation of the 1935 sheet music here. Lyrics not substantively different from either of the above, or see Autry's performance of it here; they performed it again in Round-Up Time in Texas.