Lyrics
(African American Spiritual)
Refrain
Who built the ark? Noah, Noah,
Who built the ark?
Brother Noah built the ark.
1. Didn’t old Noah build the ark,
Built it out of a hickory bark.
Built it long, both wide and tall,
Plenty of room for the large and small. Refrain
2. In came the animals, two by two,
Hippopotamus and kangaroo.
In came the animals, three by three,
Two big cats and a bumblebee. Refrain
3. In came the animals, four by four,
Two through the window and two through the door.
In came the animals, five by five,
The bees came swarming from the hive. Refrain
4. In came the animals, six by six,
Elephant laughed at the monkey’s tricks.
In came the animals, seven by seven,
Giraffes and the camels looking up to heaven. Refrain
5. In came the animals, eight by eight,
Some on time and the others were late.
In came the animals, nine by nine,
Some were laughing’ and some were cryin’. Refrain
6. In came the animals, ten by ten,
Time for the voyage to begin.
Noah said, “Go shut the door,
The rain’s started falling’ and we can’t take more.” Refrain
See also
- Country / Culture: US / African American Spirituals
- Form: ABA / call & response
- Harmony: I, IV, V / Orff
- Melody: do, re, mi / G,A,B / D,E,G,A,B,C’
- Meter: 4
- Rhythm: syncopation
- Scale: hexachord
- Tones: s,l,drmf
- Source: American Folk Songs for Children, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1948
YouTube
or purchase here (printables only)
- Printable & Digital Visuals
- PDF of song with chords + Lesson ideas + Orff arrangement
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song
