craig starret
I captured this one from "Hymns by Johnny Cash": recorded 1958, released the following year as his 2nd gospel album on Columbia, accepting Johnny's demand to do more than charting the lists. Sun Company did not.
The author is hazy. Only this one is ever credited the name appearing on the label. It MAY be Gordon Craig Starrett (1932 – 2008), but this is a guess, NOT a fact. At least, GCS was a musician, playing violin, "fiddle" in terms of country music, and ending up having strong interest in celtic music.
This "song" is meant for recitation, but I still give it a tab : my own. The original recording has a simple background melody 3/4 rythm. I give it a personal finger-picking instead, with the following harmonies. Nobody's alive to trash me for this.
when I'm alone I often think of an old house on the hill
of a big yard hedged in roses where we ran and played at will
and when the night time brought us home hushing our merry din
mother would look around and ask "are all the children in?"
well it's been many a year now and the old house on the hill
no longer has my mother's care and the yard is still so still
but if I listen I can hear it all no matter how long it's been
I seem to hear my mother ask "are all the children in?"
and I wonder when the curtain falls on that last earthly day
when we say goodbye to all of this • to our pain and work and play
when we step across the river where mother so long has been
will we hear her ask a final time "are all the children in?"
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
G Am Bm D7/9 D7 G Em when I'm alone I often think of an old house on the hill Am D7 G Am Bm D7/9 D7 of a big yard hedged in roses where we ran and played at will G Am Bm D7/9 D7 G Em and when the night time brought us home hushing our merry din Am Bm D7/9 D7 G mother would look around and ask "are all the children in?"
