From the “Music Box Revue”, 1924
words and music by Irving Berlin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
A gentle voice is calling me
I hear it night and day
It seems to whisper tenderly
You should be on your way
I’m going back without a doubt
To where my heart belongs
The land that Jolson sings about
In all his “Mammy” songs
Chorus
Southland
All night long your banjos ring in my ear
And I can hear the call of the Southland
Cornfields
Seem to say it’s just the time of the year
Come on and hear the call of the South
I’ll be so happy when I open the gate
To see my sweetie there who promised to wait
And then when I deliver
The kiss I’m gonna give ‘er
Trouble will drown way down in the Swanee River
Southland
I must go back to somebody I’ve missed
I can’t resist the call of the South