A fine sentimental ballad with directness of expression and a graceful and natural melodic line, 1860.
Words and music by Stephen C. Foster.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by Werner Tomaschewski:
Lyrics
1. Gone are the days
When my heart was young and gay
Gone are my 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”
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 longed to go
I hear their gentle voices
Calling “Old Black Joe”
Sung here by Fred Feild: