Lyrics:
When the busy day is o'er
And the sun is sinking low'r,
Then I seem to see a dear old southern home;
And the long years roll away,
Just a child again I play,
With my playmates in the woods we used to roam;
And at eve my mother there,
Listens to me say my pray'r,
And I feel her kiss as in the days of old,
But now mother's old and gray,
Waiting for me far away,
Where the sunset turns the ocean's blue to gold.
chorus:
Oh the old churchbells are ringing,
And the mocking birds are singing,
As they sang around the place in days of old.
And tho' I am far away,
All my heart has been today,
Where the sunset turns the ocean's blue to gold.
When a lad to manhood grown,
With my sweetheart I did roam,
Just a country lass, with heart as pure as snow;
And again I see the dell
And the nook we loved so well,
When I told life's old sweet story long ago;
But beyond's a grassy knoll,
And I hear the churchbell toll,
As it sends a message far along the surf,
For they gathered far and near,
And their hearts were sad and drear,
When to laid my sweetheart 'neath the turf.
