1. Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay, Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away, Gone from the earth to a better land I know, I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe". Chorus I’m coming, I’m coming, for my head is bending low: I hear those gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe".
2. Why do I weep when my heart should feel no pain Why do I sigh that my friends come not again, Grieving for forms now departed long ago. I hear their gentle voices calling “Old Black Joe”. Chorus
3. 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". Chorus