On The Banks Of The Wabash 1897

James Pitt-Payne and Ian Cousins, Opera Australia - 14 Jan 2003

Round my Indiana homestead
wave the cornfields,
In the distance loom the woodlands
clear and cool,
Often times my tho'ts revert
to scenes of childhood,
Where I first received my lessons
Nature's school,
But one thing there is missing in the picture,
Without her face it seems so incomplete,
I long to see my mother in the doorway,
As she stood there years ago,
her boy to greet.
Oh, the moonlight's fair tonight
along the Wabash,
From the fields there comes
the breath of new mown hay,
Through the sycamores
the candlelights are gleaming,
On the banks of the Wabash, far away.

Many years have passed
since I strolled by the river,
Arm in arm,
with sweetheart Mary by my side,
It was there I tried to tell her that I loved her,
It was there that I begged of her
to be my bride.
Long years have passed since I strolled
thro' the churchyard,
She's sleeping there my angel Mary dear,
I loved her but she thought I didn't mean it,
Still I'd give my future were she only here.
Oh, the moonlight's fair tonight
along the Wabash,
From the fields there comes
the breath of new mown hay,
Through the sycamores
the candlelights are gleaming,
On the banks of the Wabash, far away.

Soft karaoke
Words
treble clef 1
treble clef 2
lyric line
bass
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On The Banks Of The Wabash 1897
composed and written by Paul Dresser (1857-1906)
copyright - public domain
sequence and karaoke by
James Pitt-Payne, London UK and
Ian Cousins, Opera Australia
on Tuesday 14 January 2003 at 22.56
in association with Doug Grierson
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