Wake Up, Jonah (Jonah III)

DESCRIPTION: "Wake up, Jonah, you are the man! Reelin' and a-rockin' o' the ship so long!" "Captain of the ship got trouble in mind...." The sailors throw Jonah into the sea; he is swallowed by a whale and proceeds to Ninevah
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson & Earthy Anne Coleman)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Captain of a rolling ship has troubles, searches for the cause, finds Jonah asleep and says, "Wake up Jonah, you are the man". They pitch him overboard; a whale swallows him, then pukes him onto dry land again. A gourd vine grows over his head; an inchworm comes and cuts it down, forming a cross over his head
KEYWORDS: religious Bible ship accusation travel religious animal whale sailor
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Courlander-NegroFolkMusic, pp. 57-58, "(Wake Up, Jonah") (1 text); pp. 223-224, "Wake Up, Jonah" (1 tune, partial text)
ADDITIONAL: Harold Courlander, _A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore_, Crown Publishers, 1976, pp. 320-321, "(no title)" (1 text); pp. 342-344, "Wake Up Jonah" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10960
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson & Earthy Anne Coleman, "Jonah" (on NFMAla2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale)" (subject) and references there
NOTES [77 words]: This song summarizes the Book of Jonah, emphasizing the events of the first chapter: Jonah flees from God aboard ship; the ship is caught in a storm; the sailors cast lots to see who is to blame; the lot falls on Jonah, who is sleeping through the storm. - RBW
This song omits much of the Bible story and adds its own bits. Note that it says "whale"; the Hebrew Bible unambiguously says "fish" (for more about this, see the notes to "God's Radiophone"). - PJS, RBW
Last updated in version 3.5
File: CNFM223

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography