Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel

DESCRIPTION: About the difficulties of getting to heaven. Chorus: "(So) take off your overcoats and roll up your sleeves; Jordan am a hard road to travel (x2) I believe." The original contains assorted political references to the 1850s.
AUTHOR: Music: Daniel D. Emmett/Words: T. F. Briggs?
EARLIEST DATE: 1853 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: religious travel nonsense political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1842 - Webster-Ashburton Treaty settles the boundary between Britain (Canada) and the states of Massachussets and Maine
1846 - Oregon Treaty settles the boundary dispute between the U.S. and Britain (Canada). Minor uncertainties were settled by arbitration in 1872.
1852-1870 - Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) Emperor of France
1853-1857 - Presidency of Franklin Pierce
FOUND IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Randolph 305, "The Other Side of Jordan" (1 text)
Bronner/Eskin-FolksongAlivePart2 63, "Jerdan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #1155-1159, p. 79, "Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel" plus parodies No. 3-No. 6 (there is no No. 2) (5 references, all based on this song although it's not clear which are actual versions)
Dime-Song-Book #3/72, pp. 42-43 and and #3/62, pp. 42-43, "The Other Side of Jordan"; "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel" (2 texts, both appearing somewhat modified)
Heart-Songs, pp. 136-137, "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Trabbel" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JRDNHRD*
Roud #2103
RECORDINGS:
Harry C. Browne, "Jordan Am A Hard Road to Travel" (Columbia A-2255, 1917; rec. 1916)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" (on McClintock01) (on McClintock02)
Riley Puckett, "On the Other Side of Jordan" (Columbia 15374-D, 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Richmond Is a Hard Road to Travel"
cf. "Jordan is a Hard Road To Travel (II)" (words, music)
cf. "Ain't No Bugs on Me" (words)
cf. "Pull Off Your Old Coat" (lyrics)
cf. "Conestoga on the Jordan Road" (parody)
cf. "The People Are A-Coming" (parody)
cf. "Old Pike" (form; probable parody)
SAME TUNE:
Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel (File: RcRIHRTT)
Conestoga is a Hard Road to Travel (File: KPL249)
Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel (II) (File: CSW188)
A Trip to Salmon (File: LDC118)
Rail-road Song (by Jacob P. Weaver) (Cohen-LongSteelRail, p. 43)
Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel #3-#6 (Wolf-AmericanSongSheets p. 79)
My Gum a Rubber Boots ("Go it rubber boots and save my pantalets") (Wolf-AmericanSongSheets p. 103)
Frank Pierce's solilioquiy ("Of all the tricks that have been played of late") (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 332)
The People Are A-Coming (File: TNY363)
NOTES [110 words]: Napoleon III (1808-1873), the son of Napoleon Bonaparte's brother Louis, was chosen President of France in 1848, then in 1852 (the same year Franklin Pierce was elected President) upgraded himself to Emperor.
The "fish question" is slightly less clear; the settlement which ended the War of 1812 and the diplomacy which followed did not provide American fishermen with all the rights they wanted in Canadian waters -- but this was a perennial problem which was not solved until 1910. In addition, there were some disputes over the Columbia River (which in the complex logic of diplomacy gave the U.S. its claim to Oregon), and hence presumably its salmon. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: R305

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