MOTHER WENT A-WALKIN'
by Tom Bearden
(Recorded late 1952)


(Shall we gather at the river
that flows by the throne of God)

Spoken:

The church doors opened one Sunday
In a little country town
The people all were silent
In the rain that misted down
And an old gray-haired grand-dad
His shoulders stooped with pain
Was holdin' fast a little boy
Who kept cryin' in the rain
And in the dim candlelight within
A casket lay so still
That soon would lie beneath the earth
Up at the top of the hill
The little boy kept askin'
In a low and plaintive tone:
"What's wrong with Mommy, Grandpa?
Won't she be comin' home?
It's awful lonesome, Grandpa,
Since Daddy went away
And Mommy's all the reason
Why I'm happy every day
Wouldn't she feel better, Grandpa,
If I layed down by her side?"
The old man turned and faced him,
And with these words replied:
"Mother went a-walkin', son
A-way up in the sky,
Along the brook that winds
Among the stars up there on high,
And down the valley
Where the sun goes home at night to sleep.
Mother went a-walkin', son,
She wouldn't want us to weep."
The boy didn't seem to understand
Just where his mom had gone.
He couldn't realize that now
She wouldn't be comin' home.
He saw the rain on Grandpa's face -
He didn't know he cried.
And of course he couldn't hear the words
That Grandpa said inside:
"Mother went a-awalkin' son
Up yonder in the sky
And all that we can do down here, son,
Is bow our heads and cry.
She's gone to meet your Daddy, son,
And take him by the hand.
Yes, Mother went a-walkin' son
In God's great meadowland."


Lyrics

Session File