Standard (EADGBE)

I was standing by my window,

 On a cold and cloudy day.

 When I saw that hearse come rolling,

 For to carry my mother away.

:

 Will the circle be unbroken,

 By and by, Lord, by and by?

 There's a better home a-waiting,

 In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

 Lord, I told that undertaker,

 "Undertaker, please drive slow.

 For the body you are hauling,

 Lord, I hate to see her go."

 Lord, I followed close behind her,

 Tried to hold up and be brave.

 But I could not hide my sorrow,

 When they laid her in the grave.

 Went back home, Lord, my home was lonesome,

 Since my mother, she was gone.

 All my brothers, sister cryin',

 What a home so sad and lone.