Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane

Bill Monroe

Oh I'm gettin' old and feeble and I cannot work no more

The children no more gather 'round my door

And old masters and old mrs they are sleepin' side by side 

Near the little old log cabin in the lane 

Oh the chimney's fallen down and the roof's all caved in

Lettin' in the sunshine and the rain

And the only friend I've got now is that good old dag of mine 

And the little old log cabin in the lane 

Oh the trees have all growed up that lead around the hill

The fences have all gone to decay

And the creeks have all dried up where we used to go to mill 

And things have changed their course another way 

Oh I ain't got long to stay here what little time I've got

I want to rest content wile I remain

'Til death shall call this dog and me to find a better home 

And a little old log cabin in the lane

"De Little Old Log Cabin in De Lane" was an early country music standard, one every hillbilly singer in the '20s and '30s took a crack at. It encapsulated what would be one of the genre's major themes: sentimental reverence for a dear, departed country home, often sung by someone lost in the modern world.

Composed around 1871 by Will S. Hayes, a Civil War-era songwriter (he played both sides of the fence, writing pro-Union and anti-Union songs), "Log Cabin" had a resurgence in popularity when the minstrel Len Spencer recorded it for Victor in 1902.

This version, however, is by one of the more enigmatic figures of early recorded popular music: the African-American singer Carroll Clark, who many listeners never knew was black.

http://letras.terra.com/bill-monroe/545417/

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