“Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale)”

Description

Bible tales with warnings for sinners who don't heed: "Get your baggage on the deck and don't forget to take your check For you can't steal on board, hide away." Verses concern Jonah and the whale, Moses and Pharoah, (Daniel, Noah, etc.)

Notes

I had some difficulty deciding whether to include the Cox "Jonah" song here. It's completely straight, and lacks the lyrics of most of the other versions (including the "hideaway" lines). But it uses the same (somewhat uncommon) metrical pattern, and it's on the same theme, and I don't know of any other similar texts. One or the other song may be a rewrite, but I'm listing both here.

All the texts, of course, are based on the Biblical book of Jonah. The humorous versions exaggerate; Cox's text stays fairly close to the actual content of chapters 1 and 2 of Jonah (except for, at times, calling the fish a "whale"; the Hebrew Bible emphatically says "fish"). - RBW

Cross references

• cf. "Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble)" (subject)
• cf. "Wake Up, Jonah (Jonah III)" (subject)
• cf. "Who Did Swallow Jonah?" (subject)

Recordings

• Ford & Grace, "Hide Away" (OKeh 45157, 1927)
• McCravy Brothers, "Hide Away" (Victor V-40104, 1929)

References

1. Randolph 286, "Jonah and the Whale" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. BrownIII 346, "Jonah and the Whale" (6 text and/or fragments, but only the "C" text is this piece; "A" and "B" are "Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble)" and "D"-"F" are "Who Did Swallow Jonah?")
3. JHCox 133, "Jonah" (1 text)
4. Roud #7786
5. BI, R286