C
Gone are the days
        F                   C
When my heart was young and gay

Gone are toils
       Dm             G
Of the cotton fields away
C
Gone to the fields
     F              C
Of a better land, I know
  G                 C      F
I hear those gentle voices callin' me
C   G     C
Old Black Joe

I'm comin', I'm comin'
          F               C
Though my head is bendin' low
  G                 C      F
I hear those gentle voices callin' me
C   G     C
Old Black Joe

C                      F                    C
Why do I weep, when my heart should feel no pain,
                      Dm                G
Why do I sigh that my friends come not again?
C                        F            C
Grieving for forms now departed long ago.
  G                 C      F       C   G     C
I hear their gentle voices calling Old Black Joe.

I'm comin', I'm comin'
          F               C
Though my head is bendin' low
  G                 C      F
I hear those gentle voices callin' me
C   G     C
Old Black Joe

C                            F            C
Where are the hearts once so happy and so free?
                            Dm           G
The children so dear that I held upon my knee?
C                          F                  C
Gone to the shore where my soul has longed to go,
  G                 C      F       C   G     C
I hear their gentle voices calling Old Black Joe.
I'm comin', I'm comin'
          F               C
Though my head is bendin' low
  G                 C      F
I hear those gentle voices callin' me
C   G     C
Old Black Joe