Lyrics

On a morning bright and clear to my old home I drew near
Just a village down in sunny Tennessee
I was speeding on a train that would bring me back again
To my sweetheart who was waiting there for me.

It was but a few short years since I kissed away her tears
And I left her safe all by my mother's side
But each year we are apart she grew dearer to my heart
On the night she told me she would be my bride.

You could hear the donkey singing as they bid farewell to me
Far across the fields of cotton my old homestead I can see
As the moon shone in her glory as I sang love’s sweetest story
To the girl I left in sunny Tennessee.

The train drew up at last old familiar scenes I passed
And I met my mother at the cabin door
Friends all gathered 'round smiles on every face I found
‘Til I missed the girl I had been longing for.

As I whispered mother dear where is Mary she's not here
All of the world seemed lost and sadness came on me
For she pointed to a spot in the graveyard's little lot
Where my Mary’s buried now in Tennessee.

You could hear the donkey singing as they bid farewell to me
Far across the fields of cotton my old homestead I can see
As the moon shone in her glory as I sang love’s sweetest story
To the girl I left in sunny Tennessee.