Hush-a-bye, ma baby, slumbertime is comin’ soon;Rest yo’head upon ma breast while Mammy hums a tune;The sandman is callin’ where shadows are fallin’,While the soft breezes sigh as in days long gone by.‘Way down in Missouri where I heard this melody,When I was a Pickaninny on ma Mammy’s knee;The darkies were hummin,’ their banjos were strummin’ so sweet and low.Strum, strum, strum, strum, strum,Seems I hear those banjos playin’ once again,Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum,That same old plaintive strain.
[Instrumental interlude]
Hear that mournful melody, it just haunts you the whole day long,And you wander in dreams back to Dixie it seems,When you hear that old time song.Hush-a-bye, ma baby, go to sleep on Mammy’s knee,Journey back to Dixieland in dreams again with me;It seems yo Mammy was there once again,And the darkies were strummin’ that same old refrain.Way down in Missouri where I learned this lullaby,When the stars were blinkin’ and the moon was climbin’ high,And I hear Mammy Cloe, as in days long agoSinging hush-a-bye
