The Ol' Tunes

YOU kin talk about yer anthems An' yer arias an' sich, An' yer modern choir-singin' That you think so awful rich; But you orter heerd us youngsters In the times now far away, A-singin' o' the ol' tunes In the ol'-fashioned way. There was some of us sung treble An' a few of us growled bass, An' the tide o' song flowed smoothly With its 'comp'niment o' grace; There was spirit in that music, An' a kind o' solemn sway, A-singin' o' the ol' tunes In the ol'-fashioned way. I remember oft o' standin' In my homespun pantaloons— On my face the bronze an' freckles O' the suns o' youthful Junes— Thinkin' that no mortal minstrel Ever chanted sich a lay As the ol' tunes we was singin' In the ol'-fashioned way. The boys 'ud always lead ,as, An' the girls 'ud all chime in, Till the sweetness o' the singin' Robbed the list'nin' soul o' sin; An' I used to tell the parson 'Twas as good to sing as pray, When the people sung the ol' tunes In the ol'-fashioned way. How I long ag'in to hear 'em Pourin' forth from soul to soul, With the treble high an' meller, An' the bass's mighty roll; But the times is very diff'rent, An' the music heerd to-day Ain't the singin' o' the ol' tunes In the ol'-fashioned way. Little screechin' by a woman, Little squawkin' by a man, Then the organ's twiddle-twaddle, Jest the empty space to span, — An' ef you should even think it, 'T isn't proper fur to say That you want to hear the ol' tunes In the ol'-fashioned way. But I think that some bright mornin', When the toils of life air o'er, An' the sun o' heaven arisin' Glads with light the happy shore, I shall hear the angel chorus, In the realms of endless day, A-singin' o' the ol' tunes In the ol'-fashioned way.