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Files
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ISBN
MUM00682, 0100
Custom Date
undated
Description
Cover: drawing of an African American male, eyes staring upward; Publisher: DeLuxe Music Co. (New York)
Subject Headings (Library of Congress)
Songs -- United States -- 19th Century; Songs --United States -- 20th Century; Popular Music -- United States
Relational Format
music score
Original Format
scores
Original Collection
Sheldon Harris Collection (MUM00682), Archives and Special Collections, University of Mississippi Libraries
Finding Aid
Lyrics
Lyrics:
First verse
Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay, Gone are the 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,) I'm coming, (I'm coming), For my head is bending low; I hear their gentle voices calling Old Black Joe.
Second verse
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.
(Chorus)
Third Verse
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.
(Chorus)
Content Disclaimer
Some of the images and language that appear in the digital collections depict prejudices that are not condoned by the University of Mississippi. This content is being presented as historical documentation to aid in the understanding of both American history and the history of the University of Mississippi. The University Creed speaks to our current deeply held values, and the availability of this content should not be taken as an endorsement of previous attitudes or behavior.