—Bill Monroe

Mother left this world of sorrow
Our home was silent and so sad
Dad took sick and had to leave us
I have no home No mother nor dad

Chorus:
There's a little lonesome grave yard
On these tomestones it did say
On mother's  gone but not forgotten
On dad's  we'll meet again someday

I often go out to the graveyard
Where they laided them down to rest
I can almost hear them whisper
Trust in god He'll do the rest

Their souls have gone up to heaven
Where they'll dwell with god above
Where they'll meet there friends and loved ones
And share with all his precious love

Verse

I	IV-I	I	V
I	IV-I	I-V	I

Chorus

IV	I	I	V
I	IV-I	I-V	I

 

—Bill Monroe

My little sweetheart of the mountains
with hair as red as any flower
And her lips as sweet as honey
She shines like the morning star

Chorus:
Meet me out in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Come and meet at the lonesome pine
We'll settle down up there forever
Mary Jane, won't you be mine?

I'm going back to North Carolina
Where the mountains are so blue
Mary Jane you know I love you
And I'm coming back for you

Verse & Chorus :

I	I	IV	I
I	I	I-V	I

 

—Bill Monroe

Down life's highway alone I trod
I've always put my trust in God
But you'll find out that your silver and gold
Won't pay the price to protect your soul

Chorus:
Oh I want the Lord to protect my soul
To lead me on to heaven's door
My life down here will soon be o'er
And I want the Lord to protect my soul

There's many a church down life's highway
Where people sing rejoice and pray
Why don't you stop at one and join the fold
And ask the Lord to protect your soul

When this ol' world is doomed in sin
You'll cry oh Lord please let me
It'll be to late to make your call
To ask the lord to protect my soul

Verse

I	I	I	V
I	I	I-V	I

Chorus

I	I	IV	I
I	I	I-V	I

 

—Bill and Charlie Monroe

Where did you get them pretty little shoes
That you wear so fine
Got my shoes from a railroad man
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo

Who's gonna kiss your red rosy cheeks
Who's gonna glove your little hand
Who's a gonna shoe your pretty little feet
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo

Brother's gonna kiss my red rosy cheeks
Mama's gonna glove my little hand
Papa's gonna shoe my pretty little feet
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo

3/4
Verse

I	I	I	V
I	I	I-V	I

 

—Bill Monroe

We go to church on Sunday morning
With mother and dad to hear the Gospel ring
On an old dirt road in a wagon we travel
Those memories they still remain

Chorus:
I'm comin' home, oh Lord I'm comin
For my soul has been set free
All through my life I've been a sinner
But let the gates swing wide for me

Back in the hills of old Kentucky
Where as a boy I was grown
And bluegrass music belongs to America
And praise the Lord, I'm comin'home

All through the years I've sung the Gospel
The Lord has blessed me many ways
I often think back to my childhood
While here on earth I'll sing His praise

Chorus and Verse:

I	I	I	V
I	I	I-V	I

 

—Bill Monroe

There's a legend in the Blue Ridge Mountains
All the mountain folks say it is true
Of a young girl nearly every evening
Walked along the river dressed in blue.

She was on her way to meet her lover
In a lonely secret rendezvous
It was a fatal error that evening
For the young girl always dressed in blue.

Chorus (after 2 verses):
The legend of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Will live forever so they say
And every evening about sundown
She leaves her cold, cold water grave

Some say she left with her lover
Others say the river took her life
Is she now in the cold, cold river
Or is she now her lover's wife

As the legend goes that every evening
When the evening sun is sinking low
The girl in blue still meets her lover
As she did a hundred years ago

Verse

I-V	I	I-V	I
I-V	I	I-V	I

Chorus

IV	I	I	V
I-V	I	V	I

 

— Gillian Welch

I am an orphan on God's highway
but I'll share my troubles if you go my way
I have no mother, no father, no sister, no brother;
I am an orphan girl

I have had friendships pure and golden
but the ties of kinship I have not known them
I know no mother no father, no sister, no brother;
I am an orphan girl

But when He calls me I will be able
to meet my family at God's table
I'll meet my mother, my father, my sister, my brother;
no more an orphan girl

So, Blessed Savior, make me willing
and walk beside me until I'm with them
Be my mother, my father, my sister, my brother.
I am an orphan girl

Be my mother, my father, my sister, my brother;
I am an orphan girl, I am an orphan girl

Verse and Chorus:

I	I	V	V
I	I	IV	IV
I	I	V	V
I	I	IV	IV
I	V-I	I	I

 

—Howard Crockett and James C. Webb

High on a mountain, tell me what do you see
Bear tracks bear tracks looking back at me
Better get your rifles before its too late
The bear's got a little pig and he's headed for the gate

Chorus:
He's big around the middle and broad across the rump
Running ninety miles an hour, taking thirty feet a jump
Ain't never been caught, he ain't never been treed
And some folks say he looks a lot like me

Saved up my money and bought me some bees
Started making honey way up in the trees
Cut down the trees but the honey's all gone
Old slew foot has done made himself at home

Winter's coming on and it's forty below
River's froze over, so where can he go
I'll chase him up the gully and run him in the well
Shoot him in the bottom just to listen to him yell

Verse:

I	I	I	I
I	I	IV	I
I	I	I	I
I	I	IV	I

Chorus:

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