Lyr Req: 'Daddy I am tired,'

Subject: 'Daddy I am tired,'
From: GUEST,SH
Date: 28 Sep 00 - 08:02 PM

My Mom sang quite a few songs in her youth. She started writing down what she remembered singing. She has one she calls "Dream of A Miners Child." Here are the words she remembers.

"Daddy, I am tired," said a dear little lad.
"I am weary and worn with pain.
Soon shall I be where the Angels are.
There is no sorrow or pain up there.

CHORUS: "Goodbye, Daddy. Mother is calling for me.
With her arms outstretched and her face full of joy,
She's waiting to welcome her darling boy.
Don't cry, Daddy, for I'm gonna see my Ma,
And I hope you will come to us--won't you, Dad?--
In the land where the angels are.

"Daddy, I had such a beautiful dream!
I dreamt that dear Mother was near,
So close to my beside,
Like an Angel all dressed in white.
She said to give to dear Dad,
Telling him not to fret,
For going to heaven with Mama, you see,
And I hope you'll come someday.

"Don't cry, Daddy. Mother is calling for me,
With her arms outstretched and her face full of joy,
She's awaiting her darling boy.
Don't cry, daddy, for I'm gonna see my Ma,
And I hope you will come to us--won't you, Dad?--
In the land where the Angels are."

Weary and worn sat a deserless man,
Thinking of days gone by,
Thinking of his darling, his only son.
Oft times he wished his own days were done.
No one to comfort him no one to care,
Wife and his boy both dead,
But the memories of that dear little boy
And the words those lips have said: CHORUS.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 28-Aug-02.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Daddy I am tired,'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Sep 00 - 11:04 PM

I found a song called The Dream Of The Miner's Child but it doesn't seem to be the same song you have quoted. This one is also called "Don't Go Down In The Mine, Dad." There are some interesting notes; have a look. I wonder if your mother matched the wrong title with the song? This "Dream of the Miner's Child seems to have been recorded several times, notably by Bill Monroe and Doc Watson. Click here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Daddy I am tired,'
From: Stewie
Date: 29 Sep 00 - 12:44 AM

Archie Green devotes an entire chapter of 'Only A Miner' to the hillbilly 'Dream of Miner's Child' and its progenitor, the maudlin British piece 'Don't Go Down in the Mine, Daddy'.

Archie Green 'Only a Miner' University of Illinois Press 1972, chapter 4, pp 113-152. It includes an extensive discography for the song.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Daddy I am tired,'
From: GUEST,SH
Date: 29 Sep 00 - 07:53 AM

My mother was going from memory. She remembers the rythm to the tune when she sings it. She remembers those words. I think the title for this song is different than "Dream of A Miner's Child". I thought perhaps it might be "Goodbye, Daddy" or "Daddy I am tired". It is a beautiful song but it is sad. She sang this song back in the 1940's. She just stopped singing it for about 35 to 40 years and then it popped into her mind one day when she was singing some other songs she wrote down in a songbook. She remembered a slightly different version of "Little Rosewood Casket" than is in the archive. She also remembers a song that people are refering to as the "Prisoners Song". Perhaps someone knows the real name for "Dream of A Miner's Child". I do believe it was a song that was quite popular at one time.