“Voice from the Tombs (Lonely Tombs)”

Description

The singer passes a tomb and hears a voice, "I once lived as you live, walked and talked as you talk, Then from earth I was soon torn away." Other voices chip in about the joys of heaven and the brevity of life. At last his mother's voice says she is safe

Supplemental text

Voice from the Tombs (Lonely Tombs)
  Partial text(s)

          *** A ***

From Anne Warner, Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne &
Frank Warner Collection, #87, pp. 220-221. From the singing of
Buna Vista Presnell Hicks, Hattie Hicks Presnell, Rosa Hicks Presnell,
Beech Mountain, North Carolina, 1951.

I was strolling one day in a lovely green yard,
When a voice from the tombs seemed to say,
"I once lived as you live, walked and talked as you talk,
Then from earth I was soon torn away.

    Chorus
Oh, those tombs, lonely tombs (lonely tombs)
Seemed to say in a low gentle tone,
"Oh, how sweet is the rest
In our beautiful heavenly home."

Notes

I find, in looking through our keywords, that we have Hell as a place name but not Heaven. Given our subject matter, that's probably appropriate. - PJS

Cross references

• cf. "Hark from the Tombs (Plenary)" (theme)

Recordings

• J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Lonely Tombs" (King 661, 1947)
• Wade Mainer, "Lonely Tombs" (Bluebird B-7424, 1938)
• Preston & Hobart Smith, "Lonely Tombs" (on LomaxCD1704)

References

1. Warner 87, "Voice from the Tombs" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. ST Wa087 (Partial)
3. Roud #3399
4. BI, Wa087