I remember when I was a lad,
Times were hard and things were bad,
But there's a silver lining behind ev'ry cloud.
Just poor people, that's all we were,
Try'n to make a livin' out of black land dirt;
We'd get together in a fam'ly circle singin' loud.

Daddy sang bass, Mama sang tenor,
Me and little brother would join right in there.
Singin' seems to help a troubled soul.
One of these days and it won't be long,
I'll rejoin them in a song.
I'm gonna join the fam'ly circle at the Throne.

No the circle won't be broken,
Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye.
Daddy sings bass, Mama sings tenor
Me and little brother will join right in there
In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

I remember after work,
Mama would call in all of us.
You could hear us singin' for a country mile.
Now little brother has done gone on,
But I'll rejoin him in a song;
We'll be together again up yonder in a little while.

Daddy sang bass, Mama sang tenor,
Me and little brother would join right in there.
Singin' seems to help a troubled soul.
One of these days and it won't be long,
I'll rejoin them in a song.
I'm gonna join the fam'ly circle at the Throne.

No the circle won't be broken,
Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye.
Daddy sings bass, Mama sings tenor
Me and little brother will join right in there
In the sky, Lord, in the sky.