They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree

A tear-jerker from 1929
Words and music by Willie Raskin, George Brown and Edward Eliscu

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The sheet music:

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Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:

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Lyrics

1. Stop a while and listen to my story
   I’ve just come down from the hill
   I went there to find my childhood sweetheart
   ‘Midst the roses and the whippoorwills
   I returned to look for the old pine tree
   That haunted my memory so,
   It was there she said she’d be waiting for me
   When we carved our hearts long ago
   But, the old pine tree was gone
   Still my love for her lingers on

Refrain:
They cut down the old pine tree
And they hauled it away to the mill
To make a coffin of pine
For that sweetheart of mine
They cut down the old pine tree
But she’s not alone in her grave tonight
For it’s there my heart will always be
Though we’d drifted apart
Still they cut down my heart
When they cut down the old pine tree

2. Now that you have listened to my story
   I’m going back to the hills
   Just to be alone among my memories
   ‘Midst the roses and the whippoorwills
   I had promised her I would soon return
   And bring back a gold wedding ring
   Underneath the old pine tree we would wed
   When the first rose bloomed in the spring
   But the spring has come and gone
   And the old pine tree is no more

Refrain:
They cut down the old pine tree
And they hauled it away to the mill
There’ll be no cabin of pine
For that sweetheart of mine
They cut down the old pine tree
But she’s not alone in her grave tonight
For it’s there my heart will always be
Now I always will roam
For they cut down my home
When they cut down the old pine tree

Refrain:
They cut down the old pine tree
And they hauled it away to the mill
There’ll be no cradle of pine
For a baby of mine
They cut down the old pine tree
But she’s not alone in her grave tonight
For it’s there my heart will always be
Now I’m lost and forlorn
Wish I’d never been born
Since they cut down the old pine tree

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Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: