OLD FOLKS
(Willard Robison (m) Dedette Lee Hill (l) )

as recorded by
Larry Clinton & his Orchestra
(vocal - Bea Wain)
September 1st 1938


Everyone knows him as "Old Folks",
Like the seasons he'll come and he'll go.
Just as free as a bird
And as good as his word,
That's why everybody loves him so!

Always leavin' his spoon in the coffee,
Puts his napkin up under his chin,
And that yellow cob pipe,
It's so mellow it's ripe,
But you needn't be ashamed of him!

In the evenin', after supper,
What stories he would tell.
How he held the speech at Gettysburg for Lincoln that day; 
Oh, I know that one so well!

Don't quite understand the bad old folk,
Did he fight for the blue or the grey?
For he's so diplomatic
And so democratic,
We always let him have his way!

We always know where to find "Old Folks",
When there's some little chore he can do.
At the old livery stable,
Whenever he's able,
Pittin' the shoes with lord knows who!

Then he meets the late train at the station,
Sits and wivvels when it's overdue.
While they're sortin' the mail,
Every night without fail
He's sneakin' a little nip or two!

Every Friday he'll go fishin',
Way down on Boaters' Lake.
But he only hooks a perch or two, a whale got away,
So then we warm up the steak!

Oh, someday there'll be no more "Old Folks",
What a lonely old town this will be.
Children's voices at play
Will be still for a day,
The day that they take "Old Folks" away!




(Transcribed by Peter Akers - May 2017)