Folk and Traditional Song Lyrics:
Mother the Queen of My Heart

Mother, the Queen of My Heart

Mother, the Queen of My Heart

C        G7           C    C7
I had a home down in Texas
 F                         C
Down where the bluebonnets grew
G7                     C     a
I had the kindest old mother
     D7                      G   G7
How happy we were, just we two
     C            G7            C
Then one day the angels called her
       C7                    F
It's a debt that we all have to pay
F                      C     a

She called me close to her bedside
       C        G7       C
These last few words to say

Son, don't start drinkin' and gamblin'
Promise you'll always go straight
Ten years have passed since that parting
That promise I broke I must say
  I started in gambling for pastime
  At last I was just like them all
  I bet my clothes and my money
  Not dreaming that I'd ever fall

One night I bet all my money
Nothing was left to be seen
And all that I needed to beat them
Was one card, and that was the queen
  The cards were dealt all round the table
  Each one took a card in the draw
  And I drew the one that would beat them
  I turned it and here's what I saw

I saw my mother's picture
And somehow she seemed to say
"Son, you have broken your promise"
So I tossed the cards all away
  The winnings I gave to the newsboy
  I knew I was wrong from the start
  And I'll never forget my promise
  To my mother, the queen of my heart

yodel: C   G7  C  a
       D7  G7  C
Jimmy Rodgers via Arlo Guthrie
RPf