American Old Time Song Lyrics: 54 Sing Again That Sweet Refrain

Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 54

Sing Again that Sweet Refrain
Copyright, 1894, by Spaulding & Gray.
Words and Music by Gussie L. Davis.

The music hall was crowded in city o'er the sea,
And brilliant lights were burning ev'rvwhere,
The songs and witty sayings filled the audience with glee,
For the minstrels from the sunny South were there!
A minstrel sang a song about his old plantation home,
Down upon the Swanee River far away:
Then a gray-haired, aged darkey sat in sadness and in gloom,
He rose, and this is what they heard him say:

Refrain.
Sing again that sweet refrain, "Dar's where the old folks stay;"
It takes me back, to slav'ry days, before I was sold away;
Along de Swanee river banks, dar's where I used to roam;
Nows l'se old and gray, and far away, "far from the old folks at home."

The minstrel sung the song again, and eyes grew dim with tears,
The aged darkey sat with head bowed low.
And something in his heart awoke, that slumbered there for years,
'Twas the memory of a mother long ago.
The play let out to loud applause, and when the curtain fell,
The darkey slowly tottered on his way,
Thinking of the sweet-voiced singer, and the song he'd sung so well,
Thinking of the song that made him rise and say:-Refrain.