G   C  D  D7  G  X2

[Verse 1]
G                           C
Nestled in the heart of the Tennessee hills
D                               D7            G
Midst peaceful pines, midst the rocks and the rills
      G                          C
There stands my old homestead of long, long ago
       D                                D7                G
And it brings back fond memories of the girl that I loved so

[Verse 2]
  G                   C
I courted a maiden so sweet and so fair
     D                      D7            G
With heavenly eyes and the chestnut brown hair
    G                        C
She told me she loved me and said that she'd be mine
    D                   D7          G
But I went away leaving her there behind

[Instrumental]
G   C  D  D7  G  X2

[Verse 3]
     G                        C
I'll tell you the reason that I left her there
   D                            D7          G
To roam this old world with its sorrows and cares
  G                        C
I saw her one night in the arms of a man
D                      D7          G
Hugging and kissing as true lovers can

[Verse 4]
     G                        C
Then I went to my home with a heart full of woe
  D                        D7          G
I packed by belongings, de-termined to go
    G                         C
For many long years, this old world I did roam
      D                         D7             G
With thoughts of my darling, my sweetheart, my own

[Instrumental]
G   C  D  D7  G  X2

[Verse 5]
      G                   C
While dining one day in a little country town
  D                         D7             G
A stranger walked in and he chanced to set down
      G                       C
While talking of loved ones I happened to find
         D                   D7            G
That his sister was that old sweetheart of mine

[Verse 6]
     G                    C
When he heard my story to me he then said
    D                        D7             G
The one you left there has a long time been dead
G                          C
She waited so long for the day that you'd return
    D                        D7        G
But why you had left her she never did learn

[Verse 7]
    G                      C
Now I was the man that you saw that fatal night
D                         D7        G
Wrapped in the arms of my sister so tight
    G                       C
She loved you so dearly but you broke her heart
    D                       D7            G
For stranger, from her ever more you must part