When we were young and we thought we loved each other
But you didn't love me I guess
For you've gone and you've found another
Everything to you is regret
Chorus:
This morning along about daybreak
You quarreled at me the whole night through
I know it's not too late for your sake dear
But for me I will always be blue
Oh I'm weary my darling weary
Just to know your love's gone cold
For without you life will be so dreary
We'll need each other when we grow old
Oh sweetheart be good to our babies
And I want you to teach them to pray
Tell them to say a little prayer for their daddy
Where he will be no one can say
Chorus:
I hear a voice callin' it must be our Lord
It's comin' from heaven on high
I hear a voice callin' I'll gain the reward
In the land where we shall never shall die
The Savior has paid a great price for me
He gave His life on Calvary
So I'll follow his footsteps up the narrow way
And be ready to meet Him when He calls on that day
He died on the cross, the old rugged cross
That we would be saved from sin and not lost
So I'll follow His footsteps up the narrow way
And we'll pay that debt on the great judgement day
Chorus:
Oh I'm as free a little bird
As I can be, I can be
I'm as free a little bird as I can be
I'm gonna build my nest
In a weeping willow tree
Where the bad boys cannot bother me
Oh I'll never build my nest
On the ground, on the ground
Oh I'll never build my nest on the ground
But I'll build my nest
In a weeping willow tree
Where the bad boys cannot tear me down
Oh I'm as free a little bird
As I can be, I can be
I'm as free a little bird as I can be
I'm gonna build my nest
In a weeping willow tree
Where the bad boys cannot bother me
Oh I'll never steal honey
From a tree, from a tree
I will never steal honey from a tree
But I'll steal me kiss
From a sweet darlin's lips
And I'll carry her away across the sea
There's a low green valley
By the old Kentucky shore
Where I whiled many happy hours a way
Just a sitting and a singing
By the little cottage door
Where lived my darling Nelly Gray
Chorus:
Oh my poor Nelly Gray
They have taken you away
And I'll never see my darlin' any more
I am sitting by the river
And I'm weeping all the day
For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore
When the moon had climbed the mountain
And the stars were shining too
Then I'd take my darlin Nelly Gray
And we'd float down the river
In my little red canoe
While my banjo so sweetly I would play
My eyes are getting blinded
And I cannot see my way
Hark, there's someone knocking at the door
Oh, I hear the angels calling
And I see my Nelly Gray
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore
One night I went to see her
But she's gone, the neighbors say
The white man bound her with his chain
They have taken her to Georgia
For to wear her life away
As she toils in the cotton and the cane.
My canoe is underwater now
And my banjo is unstrung
I'm tired of living any more
My eyes shall look downward
And my songs shall be unsung
While I stay on the old Kentucky shore
Oh my darling Nelly Gray
Up in heaven there they say
That they'll never take you from me anymore
I'm coming, coming, coming,
As the angels clear the way
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore
Roses love sunshine, violets love dew
Angels in heaven, know I love you
Know I love you, know I love you
Angels in heaven, know I love you
If you don't love me, love whom you please
Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease
Give my heart ease love, give my heart ease
Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease
Build me a castle, forty feet high
So I can see her, as she rides by
As she rides by love, as she rides by
So I can see her, as she rides by
Write me a letter, send it by mail
Send it in care of, the Birmingham jail
Birmingham jail love, Birmingham jail,
Send it in care of, the Birmingham jail
Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow, hear the wind blow
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Bird in a cage love, bird in a cage
Dying for freedom, ever a slave
Ever a slave love, ever a slave
Dying for freedom, ever a slave
