Mansions for Me

—Bill Monroe
There's folks building homes as sweet as can be
They're levelling their yards and planting their trees
But my little hut I'll just let it be
Lord Jesus is building a mansion for me

A mansion for me (a mansion for me)
A mansion for me (a mansion for me)
Built by my Lord beyond Calvary
But my little hut I'll just let it be
Lord Jesus is building a mansion for me

Each day I am getting more ready to go
He's cleansing my sins more whiter than snow
I'm packing my troubles I'm bound with his love
Get ready to move to Heaven above

To you who have homes in this world below
Driving fine cars wherever you go
There's coming a time when we'll all pass away
Get ready to move with me on that day

¾

Verse:

I I I I
I I V V
I I I I
V V I I

 

Man of Constant Sorrow

—Traditional

I am a man of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all my days
I bid farewell to old Kentucky
The place where I was borned and raised

For six long years I've been in trouble
No pleasure here on earth I find
For in this world I'm bound to ramble
I have no friends to help me now

It's fare thee well my own true lover
I never expect to see you again
For I'm bound to ride that northern railroad
Perhaps I'll die upon this train

You can bury me in some deep valley
For many years where I may lay
Then you may learn to love another
While I am sleeping in my grave

Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face you'll never will see no more
But there is one promise that is given
I'll meet you on God's golden shore

Verse:

|:  I I IV V I  :|


Mama Don't Allow

Mama don't allow no music playin' round here (X2)
Well, we don't care what Mama don't allow
Gonna play that music anyhow
Mama don't allow no music playin' round here

Mama don't allow no guitar playin' round here (X2)
Well, we don't care what Mama don't allow
Gonna play that guitar anyhow
Mama don't allow no guitar playin' round here

Mama don't allow no singin' round here (X2)
Well, we don't care what Mama don't allow
Gonna sing that song anyhow
Mama don't allow no singin' round here

Mama don't allow no hand clapping here (X2)
Well, we don't care what mama don't allow
We're gonna clap our hands anyhow
Mama don't allow no hand clapping here

Mama don't allow no foot stompin' round here (X2)
Well, we don't care what Mama don't allow
Gonna stomp my feet anyhow
Mama don't allow no foot stompin' round here

Verse:

I I I V
I IV I-V I

 

Make Me Down A Pallet On Your Floor

—Mississippi John Hurt

Chorus:
Make me down a pallet on your floor ( x2 )
Honey, make it down, make it soft and low,
Then maybe my good gal won't know

I'm goin' up the country through the sleet and snow ( x3 )
Ain't no tellin' just how fur I'll go.

I get my breakfast here and my dinner in Tennessee ( x3 )
I told you I's a comin' so you better look for me

Honey I can't lay down on your bed
No I can't lay down 'cross your bed
No you know I can't lay down cross your pretty bed
'Cause my good woman she might kill me dead

And don't let my good gal catch you here ( x2 )
If you do she might shoot you, cut and stab you, too,
Ain't no tellin' what all she might do.

Honey make me down a pallet on your floor (X2)
Honey make it down, make it soft and low
Then maybe my good gal she won't know

The way I been sleepin', my back and shoulders' tired ( x3 )
Goin' turn over and try it on the side.

Additional verses:

I'm goin' up the country through the sleet and snow ( x3 )
Ain't no tellin' just how far I'll go

I'm tired and I can't work no more (X2)
Well I'm tired, lonesome, weary and I can't work no more,
Pretty baby now, make me a pallet on your floor

Come all you good time friends of mine, (X2)
Come all you good time friends of mine.
You're all around me now, well, now I'm doing fine,
But where were you when I only had a dime.

Where are all them good—time friends of mine? (X2)
When I had a dollar bill they treated me jus' fine;
Where are they now I don't have a dime?

I'm goin' where the water tastes like wine—— (X2)
This New York water tastes like turpentine——
I'm goin' where the water taste like wine.

I'm goin' where them chilly winds don't blow; (X2)
When I get to Mussel Shoals, without no place to go,
Make me a pallet on your floor.

Verse:

IV IV I I
IV IV I V
I III IV IV
I V I I

 


Love Please Come Home

—Leon Jackson

As you read this letter that I write to you
Sweetheart I hope you understand
That you're the only love I knew
Please forgive me if you can

Chorus:
Sweetheart I beg you to come home tonight
I'm so blue and all alone
I promise that I'll treat you right
Love, oh love oh please come home

That old wind is cold and slowly creeping 'round
And the fire is burning low
The snow has covered up the ground
Your baby's hungry sick and cold

Verse and Chorus:

I I I VII
IV IV I I
IV IV I I
I V I I

 


Love of the Mountains

—Allen H. Mills

Two trees on a hillside of the mountain
Always looking up towards the sky
Remind me of my papa and my mama
Who lived there eighty years before they died

Now a bright moon is shining in the valley
An old wagon leans against a stack of hay
Two graves on a hillside by the cabin
My mom and dad are resting there today

The burning of the green wood on the fireplace
The fallen snow around the red bud trees
The branches of the laurel by the creek bed
And the rippling waters of the gentle stream

Papa used to talk about the young days
When he and mama first were settled there
He spoke about the love of the mountains
That he and mama shared together there

Repeat 2nd Verse

Verse:

|: I IV I I
V IV I I :|

 

Love Gone Cold

—Johnny Bond

Chorus:
Now your love has done gone cold
I've no one to ease my worried soul
I'm all right I found my only goal
It's love gone cold

What have I ever done to you
That you treat me like you always do
Will you leave me here to grieve my soul
With love gone cold

What will I do when you are gone
I can't face an empty life alone
What have I to show when I grow old
But love gone cold

I need you dear, this I know
Your love means more to me than gold
Don't leave me here to grieve my soul
With love gone cold

Verse and Chorus:

I V I I
IV IV I I
IV IV I I
V V I I

 



Louis Collins

—Mississippi John Hurt

Mrs. Collins weep, Mrs. Collins moan
What made her son Louis leave his home?
Angels laid him away

Chorus:
Angels laid him away
Laid him six feet under the clay
Angels laid him away

Oh kind friends, now ain't it hard
To see poor Louis in a new grave yard
Angels laid him away

When they heard that Louis was dead
All the women folk they dressed in red
Angels laid him away

Bob shot one and Louis shot two
Shot poor Collins, shot him through and through
Angels have laid him away

Verse and Chorus:

V V I I
I I IV IV
I V I I

 

Lost in the Ozone Again

I told ya a million times how I Love you.
But honey your old shriveled heart won't let me in.
So I'll just relax here, with this glass of gin,
headed for the ozone agin.

Here we go now…
Chorus:
I'm lost in the ozone again.
I'm lost in the ozone again.
One drink of wine, two drinks of gin…
and I'm lost in the ozone again.

Now the neon lights are shinin' bright downtown.
There's a thousand swingin' doors gonna let me in.
I tucked the kids in bed, heh!, at eight o'clock and then…
I'm gonna head for the ozone again.

Just watch me…
Chorus (x2)

One More time now…
Chorus

Verse:

I I V I
I IV I-V I

Chorus:

I I I V
I IV I-V I

 

Lost Highway

—Leon Payne 1949

I'm a rollin' stone all alone and lost
For a life of sin I have paid the cost
When I pass by all the people say
Just another guy on the lost highway

Just a deck of cards and a jug of wine
And a woman's lies makes a life like mine
O the day we met, I went astray
I started rolling down that lost highway

I was just a lad, nearly 22
Neither good nor bad, just a kid like you
And now I'm lost, too late to pray
Lord I paid the cost, on the lost highway

Now boy's don't start to ramblin' round
On this road of sin ,or you're sorrow bound
Take my advice or you'll curse the day
You started rollin' down that lost highway

Verse:

I – IV I I V
IV I I – V I