Papa's Old Fiddle

Papa brought his fiddle to the new frontier
And many a night it brought us cheer when he'd play for us

My papa had an old homemade fiddle whittled out of a piece 
of pinewood
Lord knows it didn't look like much but it sounded mighty 
good
And when the chores were done after supper papa'd take that
 old fiddle down
He'd sit there in an old cane bottom chair and all of us 
kids would gather round

Though the times were hard on the frontier papa never made 
a fuss
And somehow the world seemed to be a little bit brighter 
when he'd play for us
I could always tell just about how he felt he'd sit there 
and close his eyes
And that old fiddle would almost talk sometime I'd swear 
it's gonna cry

Then there was the time when mama took sick the joy in our 
home was gone
One night she called papa close to her bed and I heard her 
say papa play me a song
I saw the tears roll down his cheek he turned toward the 
wall
He took that old fiddle under his chin he stood there 
straight and tall

Now the years have gone by and thoughts of hard times have 
almost faded away
But the mem'ry of papa's old fiddle well I think that'll 
always stay
Sometimes I can almost hear it at the close of a day
And I remember just how much it meant to me when my papa 

used to play