There’s A Mother Always Waiting At Home

[Intro]
Some of those old songs that I used to sing when I was a kid - I still remember every word to 'em. I learned a lot of 'em from the radio. I learned a lot of 'em from the boys that lived across the road, the Williams boys. There was Guy and Otis Williams, Jack Williams. They didn't play the guitar or anything, but they- say, sing a little bit and they had a Victrola that they played those old records on. There was Cowboy Slim Rinehart and there was the Carter Family and there was Jimmie Rodgers and there was Clayton McMichen and there was, uh, the Georgia Crackers. There was Arthur Smith. There was, um, Vernon Dalhart. Songs like "The Death of Floyd Collins". There was a song about mother that I remember especially well. Um, I believe Bradley Kincaid might have sang this song. I'm not sure. I remember a lot of his songs, used to sing a lot of 'em. Songs about Mother and about Daddy were so close to me because Mother and Daddy were so important. They were a part of my life. Things about home. Home was so dear. They say there's no place like home. When I was a kid, I didn't know there was any other place but home

[Verse 1]
"So you're going to leave the old home, Jim
Today you're going away
So you're going among the city folks to dwell"
So spoke a kind old mother
To her boy, one summer day
"If your mind's made up that way, I wish you well
The old home will be lonesome
We'll miss you when you go
The birds won't sing so sweet when you're not nigh
But if you get in trouble, Jim
Just write and let us know"
She spoke these words and then she said, "Goodbye"

[Chorus]
If sickness overtakes you
Or old companions shake you
As through this world, you wander all alone
When friends, you haven't any
In your pocket, not a penny
There's a mother always waiting you at home

[Verse 2]
Ten years later, to this village
Came a stranger no one knew
His steps were halt and ragged clothes, he wore
The little children laughed at him
As down the lane, he trod
At last, he stopped before a cottage door
He gently knocked, no sound he heard
He thought, "Can she be dead?"
But then, he heard a voice well known to him
'twas his mother's voice, but her hair had silvered
By the touch of time
And she said, "Thank God, they've sent me home my Jim"

[Chorus]
If sickness overtakes you
Or old companions shake you
As through this world, you wander all alone
When friends, you haven't any
In your pocket, not a penny
There's a mother always waiting you at home