Hi Ho Jerum

DESCRIPTION: "There was a rich man and he lived in Jerusalem, Glory hallelujah hi ro je-rum." The rich man rejects a request for help from a "human wreckium." The poor "wreckium" dies and goes to "Heavium"; the rich man ends up in "Hellium"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: Early 1950s (recording, Sam Hinton)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Macaronic song with pseudo-Latin phrases, e.g. "The rich man died, but he didn't fare so wellium/He couldn't get to Heaven, so he had to go to Hellium." In some versions, it's a retelling of the Dives and Lazarus tale: the poor man at the rich man's gate asks for bread; the rich man calls a "policium"; when they die, the poor man goes to Heaven, the rich man goes to Hell. Chorus inevitably includes the line, "Glory Hallelujah, Hi-Ho-Jerum" or similar.
KEYWORDS: poverty humorous warning hardheartedness death begging Hell campsong
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p. 184, "There Was a Rich Man Who Lived in Jerusalem" (1 text, tune referenced)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 25, "The Rich Man and the Poor Man" (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 132, 141, "Hi Ho Jarum" (notes only)
DT, RICHPOOR*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 33, #1 (1987), pp, 28-29, "Hi-Ho-Jerum" (1 text, 1 tune, as sung by Sam Hinton and learned from Dr. Norris Rakestraw)
Roud #4571
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lazarus and the Rich Man" (theme)
cf. "Dives and Lazarus" [Child 56] (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hi Ro Jerum
NOTES [42 words]: This, obviously, is Jesus's parable of the rich man and Lazarus, with the names removed and a trace of feeble humor added. For background, see the other Lazarus songs. - RBW
This song has bawdy variants; I'm surprised they didn't turn up in Cray. - PJS
Last updated in version 6.3
File: FSWB025

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