102 years ago today, the Titanic hit an iceberg. Here’s Leadbelly’s song about the disaster, and especially Jack Johnson’s reaction.

UPDATE: I first heard this song performed by Michelle Shocked and her father on Austin City Limits in 1990. Had no idea until now that it was originally written and performed by Leadbelly.

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Ed Kilgore, a contributing editor of the Washington Monthly, is a columnist for New York.