“I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago (Bragging Song)”

Description

"I was born about ten thousand years ago, And there's nothing in this world that I don't know." The singer boasts of his past accomplishments, e.g. watching Adam and Eve eat the apple (and eating the core); teaching Solomon to read....

Notes

It need hardly be stated that there is very little truth in this song (even if one accepts the Bible as literally true). I won't state examples; they would just bore you.

I do suspect that the "Ten Thousand Years" title is original, and "four thousand years" is a later correction by those who thought the braggart couldn't have been born before 4004 BCE. - RBW

Not to be confused with the bawdy "Three Thousand Years Ago". -PJS

The verse "She's my darling, she's my daisy, She's humpbacked and she's crazy... She's my freckled-faced consumptive Mary Ann" (sung as part of this song, e.g., by Charlie Poole) is also associated with "Hungry Hash House," and that's where I've listed it when it occurs on its own. It's not clear that it belongs there, but for the moment I'm listing that song with this one because it fits better metrically. - RBW

Cross references

• cf. "The Day Columbus Landed Here"
• cf. "Sara Jane" (lyrics of some versions)

Recordings

• Clarence Ashley & Tex Isley, "I'm The Man That Rode the Mule Around the World" (on Ashley01)
• Fiddlin' John Carson, "When Abraham and Isaac Rushed the Can" (OKeh 40181, 1924)
• Cramer Brothers, "I Was Born Four Thousand Years Ago" (Broadway 757, c. 1927 [as "I Was Born 4000 Years Ago"]; Broadway 8059, c. 1932; rec. 1927)
• Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers "I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago" (Crown 3101, 1931)
• Vernon Dalhart, "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule Around the World" (CYL: Edison 5278, n.d.)
• Otto Gray & his Oklahoma Cowboys, "4000 Years Ago" (Vocalion 5479, rec. 1931)
• Georgia Organ Grinders, "Four Thousand Years Ago" (Columbia 15445-D, 1929)
• Kelly Harrell, "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago" (OKeh 40486, 1925; on KHarrell01)
• Bradley Kincaid, "Four Thousand Years Ago" (Gennett 6761/Champion 15687 [as Dan Hughey]/Supertone 9362, 1929; Superior 2656, 1931; Champion 45057 [as Dan Hughey], c. 1935)
• Uncle Dave Macon, "Man That Rode the Mule Around the World" (Vocalion 5356, 1929)
• Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "I Was Born Four Thousand Years Ago" (Brunswick 110/Vocalion 5028, 1927; Supertone S-2033, 1930)
• Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World" (Columbia 15043-D, 1925, with an extended introductory verse by Poole; on CPoole04)
• Pete Seeger, "I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago" (on PeteSeeger11)
• Smoky Mountain Twins, "I Was Born 4000 Years Ago" (Conqueror 7065, 1928)
• Dock Walsh, "Educated Man" (Columbia 15057-D, 1925)

References

1. Randolph 410, "I Was Born About Four Thousand Years Ago" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
2. BrownIII 426, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 2 more)
3. Gardner/Chickering 187, "The Historian" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Sandburg, pp. 330-331, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
5. Lomax-FSUSA 10, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
6. Lomax-ABFS, pp. 346-350, "The Highly Educated Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
7. Rorrer, p. 69, "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World" (1 text, with a a final verse, and probably an extended introductory verse, by Charlie Poole)
8. Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 170, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (1 text)
9. Silber-FSWB, p. 26, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (1 text)
10. DT, (JUSTFACT) (BORN10K)
11. Roud #3127
12. BI, R410