Death of Floyd Collins

Oh, come all you young people and listen while I tell
The fate of Floyd Collins, a lad we all knew well
His face was fair and handsome, his heart was true and brave
His body now lies sleeping in a lonely sandstone cave

How sad, how sad the story, it fills our eyes with tears
The memory too will linger for many, many years
A brokenhearted father who tried his boy to save
Will now feel the sorrow at the door of Floyd's cave

Oh, Mother, don't you worry, dear Father, don't be sad
I'll tell you all my story in an awful dream I had
I dreamed I was a prisoner, my life I could not save
I cried, "Oh, must I perish within this silent cave?"

The rescue party labored, they worked both night and day
To move the mighty barrier that stood within the way
To rescue Floyd Collins was their battle cry
"We'll never, no, we'll never let Floyd Collins die"

But on that fatal morning, the sun rose in the sky
The workers still were busy, we'll save him by and by
But, oh, how sad the ending, his life could not be saved
His body then was sleeping in a lonely sandstone cave

Young people, oh, take warning from Floyd Collins' fate
And get right with your Maker before it is too late
It may not be a sand cave in which we find our tomb
But at the bar of judgment, we, too, must meet our doom