Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay
Gone from this earth to the cotton fields away
Gone from the earth to a better land I know
I hear their gentle voices calling, Old Black Joe
I’m coming, I’m coming, for my head is bending low
I hear their gentle voices calling, old black Joe
Why do I weep, when my heart should feel no pain
Why do I sigh when my friends come not again
Grieving for forms now departed long ago
I hear their gentle voices calling, Old Black Joe
Where are the hearts once so happy and so free
The children so dear that I held upon my knee
Gone to the shore where my soul has longed to go
I hear their gentle voices calling, Old Black Joe