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Paul Laurence Dunbar - The Ol` Tunes
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YOU kin talk about yer anthems
An` yer arias an` sich,
An` yer modern choir-singin`
That you think so awful rich;
But you orter heerd us youngsters
In the times now far away,
A-singin` o` the ol` tunes
In the ol`-fashioned way.
There was some of us sung treble
An` a few of us growled bass,
An` the tide o` song flowed smoothly
With its `comp`niment o` grace;
There was spirit in that music,
An` a kind o` solemn sway,
A-singin` o` the ol` tunes
In the ol`-fashioned way.
I remember oft o` standin`
In my homespun pantaloons—
On my face the bronze an` freckles
O` the suns o` youthful Junes—
Thinkin` that no mortal minstrel
Ever chanted sich a lay
As the ol` tunes we was singin`
In the ol`-fashioned way.
The boys `ud always lead ,as,
An` the girls `ud all chime in,
Till the sweetness o` the singin`
Robbed the list`nin` soul o` sin;
An` I used to tell the parson
`Twas as good to sing as pray,
When the people sung the ol` tunes
In the ol`-fashioned way.
How I long ag`in to hear `em
Pourin` forth from soul to soul,
With the treble high an` meller,
An` the bass`s mighty roll; 
But the times is very diff`rent,
An` the music heerd to-day
Ain`t the singin` o` the ol` tunes
In the ol`-fashioned way.
Little screechin` by a woman,
Little squawkin` by a man,
Then the organ`s twiddle-twaddle,
Jest the empty space to span, —
An` ef you should even think it,
`T isn`t proper fur to say
That you want to hear the ol` tunes
In the ol`-fashioned way.
But I think that some bright mornin`,
When the toils of life air o`er,
An` the sun o` heaven arisin`
Glads with light the happy shore,
I shall hear the angel chorus,
In the realms of endless day,
A-singin` o` the ol` tunes
In the ol`-fashioned way.
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