1. |
Calling Me Home
02:37
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An old friend lay on his dyin’ bed
Held my hand to his bony breast
& he whispered low as I bent my head
Oh, they’re calling me home, they’re callin’ me home.
My time has come to sail away
I know you’d love for me to stay
But I miss my friends of yesterday
Oh, they’re callin’ me home, they’re callin’ me home.
I know you’ll remember me when I’m gone
Remember my stories, remember my songs
I’ll leave them on earth, sweet traces of gold
Oh, they’re callin’ me home, they’re callin’ me home.
So friends gather round & bid me goodbye
My body’s bound but my soul shall fly
My little light shinin’ from the sky
Oh, they’re callin’ me home, they’re callin’ me home.
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2. |
Farewell My Home
04:32
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I returned to the place that I left long ago
Little house, weathered barn, hills and fields where we roamed
Dusty roads of my youth have all hardened to stone
And to strangers my name is unknown.
CHO: O sweet home of my childhood, sweet home of my dreams
Where old friends and old hearts entwine in sweet relief
Where I rode the wild stallion and ran with the storm
Now it’s farewell my home, my home.
The old homeplace is gone and nothing is the same
A cold, silent factory rests on the hallowed place
The highways surround you and kill with cold embrace
All the wild rambling joys of yesterday.
Farewell to my home, you will always remain
In my heart you’re the treasure I find at close of day
Old progress can never take that away from me
I can still keep you safe in my dreams.
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3. |
Girl of Constant Sorrow
05:18
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I am a girl of constant sorrow
I’ve seen trouble all my days
I bid farewell to Carroll County
The place where I was born and raised.
I used to think that I saw trouble
I fear there’s nothing else to do
How little did I think you’d leave me
But now I bid to you adieu
The very first time I ever saw you
The world was all over green
But since to me you’ve proved falsehearted
I wish your face I’d never seen.
They have told you some false stories
You believe them all they say
Oh you are false but I’ll forgive you
Forget you though, I never may.
I wish I was a little sparrow
I had wings that I might fly
I’d fly away to my false lover
So when he talked I could be by.
I’d ask him who he meant to flatter
Or who he meant for to deceive
All in his bosom I would flutter
With these little and tender wings.
You’re like the stars of a bright summer morning
They’ll appear but soon be gone
You tell to me some flattering story
Then take some other and be gone.
The very last time I ever saw you
You were standing in your cottage door
Yet your smiles are ever near me
Though I see thee never more.
When I’m asleep I’m dreaming ‘bout you
When I’m awake I have no rest
Every moment seems an hour
Oh what burdens in my breast
One more word and all is over
Why are you unkind to me?
Pray tell me why you do not love me
And turn aside, how can it be?
I am a girl of constant sorrow
I’ve seen trouble all my days
I bid adieu to Carroll County
The place where I was born and raised.
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4. |
Old Virginia Hills
04:16
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O the old Virginia hills how majestic and how grand
With their summits bathed in glory like the Prince Emmanuel’s land
Is it any wonder then that my heart with rapture thrills
As I stand once more with loved ones on the old Virginia hills.
CHO: O the hills, beautiful hills
How I love the old Virginia hills
If o’er land or sea I roam, still I think of happy home
And my friends among the old Virginia hills.
O you old Virginia hills where my girlhood hours were passed
Where I often wandered lonely and the future tried to cast
Many were the visions bright which the future n’er fulfilled
Yet how sunny were my daydreams on the old Virginia hills.
O the old Virginia hills how unchanged they seem to stand
With their summits pointing skyward to the great almighty land
Many changes can I see which my heart with sadness fills
But no changes can be noticed in the old Virginia hills.
O you old Virginia hills I must bid you now adieu
In my home beyond the mountains I shall ever dream of you
In the eventide of life if my spirit only wills
I shall still behold the vision of the old Virginia hills.
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5. |
Galax Waltz
02:31
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6. |
When I Stop Dreaming
03:15
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Ref.: When I stop dreaming
That’s when I’ll stop loving you.
The worst that I’ve ever been hurt in my life
The first time I ever have wanted to die
Was the night that you told me you loved someone else
And asked me if I could forget.
When I stop dreaming
That’s when I’ll stop wanting you.
I’d be like a flower unwanted in spring
Alone and neglected, transplanted in vain
To a garden of sadness where its petals would fall
In the shadow of undying pain.
When I stop dreaming
That’s when I’ll stop thinking of you.
You may teach the flowers to bloom in the snow
You may take a pebble and teach it to grow
You may teach all the raindrops to return to the clouds
But you can’t teach my heart to forget.
When I stop dreaming
That’s when I’ll stop crying for you.
When I stop dreaming
That’s when I’ll stop loving you.
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7. |
The Little Dove
04:36
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As I sat in a lonesome grove
Sat over my head a little dove
For its lost mate began to coo
It made me think of my mate too.
Oh little dove you’re not alone
With you I am constrained to mourn
I once like you did have a mate
But now I’m left to mourn my fate.
Consumption seized her lungs severe
And preyed on her for one long year
Til death came at the break of day
And my poor Mary he did slay.
Her blooming cheeks, her sparkling eyes
Are withered like the rose that dies
The arms that once did embrace me round
Lie mouldering now in the cold ground.
But death, grim death did not stop here
I had one child to me most dear;
Death like a vulture came again
And took from me my little Jane.
But bless the lord, his word is given
Declaring babes are heirs of heaven
Then cease my heart to mourn for Jane
Since my small loss is her great gain.
There is one thing that cheers my breast
That my dear Mary’s gone to rest
For while her dying tongue could move
She prayed the Lord for pardoning love.
She said to me my dearest friend
Go on prove faithful to the end
And if on earth we meet no more
Oh may we meet on Canaan’s shore.
Oh hasten on that happy day
When I must leave this clod of clay
And soar on high to that blest plain
Where I’ll meet Mary and my Jane.
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8. |
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My lover’s gone away
He didn’t take much when he went
Just a suitcase and some change
And the years we might have spent
And it doesn’t matter how I cry
Or say that he didn’t try
When my ship came back to shore
He didn’t love me any more.
My heart is broken my pride is gone
I put my arms around me tight
Try to hold on
I ask questions but no answers come
This situation you know it’s wrong, it’s wrong
And I said, lord you know I want to try
To make a change, make things right
But when my ship came back to shore
He didn’t love me anymore.
I know that friends are gonna talk
And some will say he isn’t worth a damn
And I know he said he had to go
But lord I wish he’d come back again
Take me in his arms, say everything’s OK
And love away all my pain
But when my ship came back to shore
He didn’t love me any more.
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9. |
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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 or dad.
CHO:There’s a little lonesome graveyard
On these tombstones it did say
On mother’s gone but not forgotten
On dad’s we’ll meet again someday.
I’d often go out to the graveyard
Where they laid 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
There they’ll meet with friends and loved ones
And share with all his precious love.
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10. |
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The snow falls round my window
But it can’t chill my heart
God knows it died the day you left
My dream world fell apart.
CHO: Weary blues from waiting
Lord I’ve been waiting so long
These blues have got me cryin’
Oh sweet daddy please come home.
Thru tears I watch young lovers
As they go strolling by
Oh all the things that might have been
God forgive me if I cry.
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11. |
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A little love note left around where you thought she wouldn’t find it
A slip of the tongue by a friend
A letter that she opened by mistake one rainy day
Another cheater’s just lost the game again.
CHO: Oh you tell her that you love her
She’s got to understand
It was just a fleeting moment
The weakness in a man
But the only words she hears
Are those you said to someone else
Another cheater’s just lost the game again.
Now I don’t know this story’s final act but one thing is for sure
If she stays or if she leaves him at the end
Her love will never be as easy given as before
Another cheater’s just lost the game again.
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12. |
Worn Out Gettin' Wise
03:13
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DON’T COME LOOKIN FOR A GOOD TIME
I’M A MIGHTY MOODY WOMAN
‘THERE’S NO TELLIN WHAT YOU’LL FIND
I’VE SEEN A LOT OF LAUGHTS TURNED INTO LIES’
SEEMS I GOT WORN OUT GETTIN WISE.
ONE TOO MANY HEARTACHS IN MY YOUNGER DAYS
ONE TOO MANY LOVES WHO PROMISED NOT TO STRAY
IF IT CAME MY TIME TO WIN I WOULDN’T TAKE THE PRIZE
I’VE GOT WORN OUT GETTIN WISE
SO DON’T TALK OF LOVE
DON’T TALK OF SWEET ROMANCE
I WOULD HAVE LIKED IT ONCE BUT NOW I BLEW MY CHANCE
THERE YOU STAND WITH YOUR HEART ON FIRE
I HATE TO HAVE TO TELL YOU I LOST MY DESIRE
DON’T COME LOOKIN FOR A NEW FLAME
THIS ONCE BURNED OUT LONG AGO FROM PLAYIN AT THAT GAME
BETTER FIND A WOMAN WITH SOME STARTS LEFT IN HER EYES
AIN’T GOT WORN OUT GETTIN WISE.
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13. |
If I Play With Fire
02:45
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IF I PLAY WITH FIRE IT’LL BURN
If you walk into love with your heart wide open
Love’s gonna end up with your heart sure broken
When will I ever learn
If I play with fire it’ll burn.
Great elation, strong temptation
It all started out with a sweet flirtation
Unable to resist the game
Drawn like a moth to the flame.
Bridge: I swear I said never again
Love the joy—hate the pain
Just wanted a lover, just wanted a friend
Simple enough but I’ve done it again
I walked into love with my heart wide open
Love ended up with my heart sure broken
When will I ever learn
If I play with fire it’ll burn.
Bridge: I swear I saw a new kind of man
With a heart that was ready to take a chance
Simple enough but he simply can’t
& it’s easy to see I’ve done it again—
I walked into love with my heart wide open
Love ended up with my heart sure broken
When will I ever learn
If I play with fire it’ll burn.
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14. |
Skipping School
02:20
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15. |
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Oh father won't you come and go along with me
For heaven is my aim
Jesus is gone, but he's comin' back again
To take his children home.
Look away, look away, look a long lonesome way
You can see the promised land
Look away, look away, look a long lonesome way
You can see the promised land.
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Alice Gerrard Durham, North Carolina
A singer and songwriter, Alice’s recordings with Hazel Dickens during the 1960s and ’70s influenced a generation of women musicians from Laurie Lewis to the Judds. Nominated for a Grammy in 2015, she was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Assoc. Hall of Fame in 2017. A documentary film about Alice, "You Gave Me a Song" premiered at the Full Frame Independent Film Festival in 2019. ... more
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