Ship That Is Passing By, The

DESCRIPTION: "I once had a father but now I have none, He's gone to that beautiful home. O Lord, let me sail on that beautiful ship, The ship that is passing by. The days are so short and the night are so long And I am so lonely here." Similarly mother, brother, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Roberts/Agey-InThePine)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad family
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Combs/Wilgus-FolkSongsOfTheSouthernUnitedStates 316, p. 191, "The Ship That Is Passing By" (1 short text)
Roberts/Agey-InThePine #111, "Ship That's Sailing By" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4303 and 16851
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Ship Sailing Now
NOTES [74 words]: This is a rather amorphous song -- amorphous enough that it seems to have picked up two Roud numbers, 4303 and 16851. The latter versions tend to begin with the line "Oh the days are so (short/long) and the nights are so (short/long), They seem like weeks to me"; the former start with the "I once had a father but now I have none" lament. They are the same song, as an examination of the full text shows, but they don't look like it at a glance.
Last updated in version 6.7
File: CW191

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