The Cyber Hymnal ‎#7491

7491. Where Is My Boy Tonight?

1. Where is my wandering boy tonight—
The boy of my tenderest care,
The boy that was once my joy and light,
The child of my love and prayer?

Refrain
O where is my boy tonight?
O where is my boy tonight?
My heart o’erflows, for I love him, he knows;
O where is my boy tonight?

2. Once he was pure as morning dew,
As he knelt at his mother’s knee;
No face was as bright, no heart more true,
And none was so sweet as he. [Refrain]

3. O could I see you now, my boy,
As fair as in olden time,
When prattle and smile made home a joy,
And life was a merry chime! [Refrain]

4. Go for my wandering boy tonight;
Go search for him where you will;
But bring him to me with all his blight,
And tell him I love him still. [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: Where is my wandering boy tonight
• Title: Where Is My Boy Tonight?
• Author: Robert Lowry (1877)
• Refrain First Line: O where is my boy tonight?
• Language: English
• Source: The Fountain of Song, 1877
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: A wi­dowed lady of cul­ture, about for­ty years of age, who was an ac­comp­lished vo­cal­ist, had ceased to sing, though her sweet voice was still in its prime. The cause was her sor­row for her run­a­way boy. She had not heard from him for five years. While spend­ing a week with friends in a ci­ty dis­tant from home, her hid­den tal­ent was be­trayed by the friends to the pas­tor of their church, where a re­viv­al was in pro­gress, and per­su­asion that seemed to put a du­ty up­on her fin­al­ly pro­cured her con­sent to sing a so­lo. The church was crowd­ed. With a force and feel­ing that can be ea­si­ly guessed she sang "Where Is My Boy Tonight?" and fin­ished the first stan­za. She be­gan the second…and as the con­gre­ga­tion caught up the re­frain…a young man who had been sit­ting in a back seat made his way up the aisle and sobbed, "Mo­ther, I’m here!" The em­brace of that mo­ther and her long-lost boy turned the se­rvice into a gen­er­al hal­le­lu­jah. At the in­quiry meet­ing that night there were ma­ny souls at the Me­rcy Seat who ne­ver knelt there be­fore—and the young wan­der­er was one. Brown, pp. 446-7

Tune Information

• Name: [Where is my wandering boy tonight]
• Composer: Robert Lowry (1877)
• Incipit: 33343 32111 11144
• Key: G Major
• Source: The Fountain of Song, 1877
• Copyright: Public Domain