The Assembly Hymn and Song Collection ‎#224

224. Old Black Joe

1 Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay,
Gone are the friends from the cotton fields away,
Gone from the earth to a better land, I know,
I hear their gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe."

Chorus:
I'm coming, I'm coming,
For my head is bending low;
I hear those gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe."

2 Why do I weep when my heart should feel no pain?
Why do I sigh that my friends come not again?
Grieving for forms now departed long ago,
I hear their gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe." [Chorus]

3 Where are the hearts once so happy and so free?
The children so dear that I held upon my knee?
Gone to the shore where my soul has long'd to go,
I hear their gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe." [Chorus]

Text Information

• First Line: Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay
• Title: Old Black Joe
• Refrain First Line: I'm coming, I'm coming
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1914

Tune Information

• Name: [Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay]
• Composer: Stephen C. Foster
• Incipit: 13455 56176 51345
• Key: D Major