I'M TYING THE LEAVES (SO THEY WON'T COME DOWN)
(E.S.S. Huntingdon / J. Fred Helf)

Byron Harlan - 1907

Also recorded by:
Grandpa Jones



Playmates were they, girl and lad.
She's home today, lad feels sad.
Doctor, he called, whispered low:
"When the first autumn leaves fall, then she must go." 

Lad, with a tear, climbs a tree.
"I'll keep her here." murmurs he.
Big man in blue sternly cries:
"What are you doing there?" Lad replies: 

CHORUS
"I'm tying the leaves so they won't come down,
So the wind won't blow them away,
For the best little girl in the whole wide world,
Is lying so ill today. 
Her young life must go when the first leaves fall.
I'm fixing them tight so they'll stay.
I'm tying the leaves so they won't come down,
So Nellie won't go away." 

Sad mother grieves, day by day,
Watching the leaves, hears boy say:
"You mustn't cry, for, you see,
I've tied all the leaves fast up on the tree." 

Doctor brings joy one sad day.
Mother tells boy: "Nell will stay."
Lad at girl's side, cries with glee:
"That's what I said one day in the tree. 

CHORUS