Lyrics

It was on Monday morning just about one o’clock,
That the great Titanic began to reel and rock.
Then the people began to talk
Saying lord I’m going to God.
It was sad when that great ship went down.

[Chorus]
It was sad when that great ship went down.
Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives.
It was sad when that great ship went down.

When they were building the Titanic
They said what they would do
They were going to build a ship that the water could not go through.
But god with his mighty hand showed the world it could not stand.
It was sad when that great ship went down.

[Chorus]
It was sad when that great ship went down.
Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives.
It was sad when that great ship went down.

When they left England they were making for the shore.
The rich did decide they would not ride with the poor
So they sent the poor below,
They were the first that had to go.
It was sad when that great ship went down.

[Chorus]
It was sad when that great ship went down.
Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives.
It was sad when that great ship went down.

Many people on the ship were a long way from home.
With friends all around them, didn’t know their time had come.
For death came riding by,
1600 had to die.
It was sad when that great ship went down.

 [Chorus]
It was sad when that great ship went down.
Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives.
It was sad when that great ship went down.

 Source: Stoneman, Ernest. (1924) “Titanic”. In People Take Warning: Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs, 1913-1938. Fontana Distribution, 2010 (CD).

 There is a version of this song in Titanica: The Disaster of the Century in Poetry, Song, and Prose by Steven Biel, under the title “The Great Titanic”. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 83-84, but it has no listed author or performer. It was recorded in 1915, according to said source.