Darling little Joe (video)

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1. What will the birds do, mother, in the spring

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the little brown birds around the door ?

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Will they fly from the trees and tap at my window,

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asking why Joe wanders out no more ?

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2. What will the kitten do, mother, all alone,

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will it stop from its frolics for a day ?

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Will it lie on its rug by the side of my bed,

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as it did before I went away ?

+ instrumental = verse 3

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3. Keep Tige, dearest mother, my poor little dog,

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for I know that he'll miss me, too,

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keep him when old and useless he grows,

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sleeping all the long summer through.

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4. Show him my coat, mother, so he'll not forget

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little master who will then be dead,

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speak to him kindly and often of Joe,

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and pat him on his curly head.

+ instrumental = verse 4

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5. What will Thomas, the old gardener, say,

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when you ask him for a flower for me ?

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Will he give you a rose he has tended with care,

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the first, fairest bloom of the tree ?

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6. And you, dearest mother, will miss me for a while,

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though in heaven I'll larger grow,

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any kind angel will tell you at the gate,

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when you ask for your darling Little Joe.

(The Carter Family)