A SONG OF TEXAS

 Text: collated from manuscripts and oral version,
 including John T. McCall, 1 January 1862, 
    http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=62197
 and Nancy (Humble) Griffin, 22 October 1941, collected
 by John A. Lomax, in the Archive of Folk Song,
 Library of Congress.

 Tune: A SONG OF TEXAS, by S.W. Palmer and H.S. Rees
  The Sacred Harp, 1859, page 422.


 Away here in Texas, the bright sunny South
  The cold storm of winter defies;
 The dark lowring clouds that envelop the North
  Scarce darken our beautiful skies.

 Away here in Texas the sun shines so bright
  The stars in their beauty appear;
 The full moon in splendor illumines the night
  And the seasons roll round with the year.

 Away here in Texas the beautiful flow'rs
  Peculiar, brilliant and gay;
 The birds with their music beguile the dull hours
  And enchantingly sing all the day.

 Away here in Texas a stranger I roam
  Unknown unto all but a few,
 But I travel in hope of a far better home
  When I take my last sad adieu.

 Away here in Texas my journey shall end,
  My body be laid in the ground,
 But I hope to arise and to glory ascend
  When Gabriel his trumpet shall sound.

 And ransom'd from Texas I'll rise from my tomb
  To meet my dear Lord in the air;
 The words of his promise shall bear me safe home,
  Forever to dwell with him there.