Red Sea

DESCRIPTION: "When Moses was leading the Israelites, Red Sea, Pharaoh tried to catch them just for spite, Red Sea. Oh, Pharaoh he got drowned...." The remaining verses are about Jesus and how he cares for and takes away the sins of the poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious disaster death
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 629, "Red Sea" (1 short text, with one stanza printed under #629 and the rest under #610!)
Wheeler-SteamboatinDays, p. 70-71, "Red Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10021
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (lyrics)
NOTES [111 words]: It's possible that this is a much-evolved version of "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep"; they have lyrics in common and are both about the Exodus (at least in their first verses). But they had separated enough that I would consider them separate songs.
It's worth noting that the Bible does not say that Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) -- though it doesn't say he wasn't, either. Exodus 14:27-28 reads "the Egyptians fled [into the sea], and YHWH scattered the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered Pharaoh's chariots and horesemen and all his army that had followed [the Israelites] into the sea; not one of them survived." - RBW
File: MWhee070

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