Come Home Father
(Henry Clay Work)

Father, dear father, come home with me, now!
The clock on the steeple strikes one;
You said you were coming straight home from the shop,
As soon as your day's work was done.
Our fire has gone out, our house is all dark,
And mother's been waiting since tea,
With poor brother Benny so sick in her arms,
And no one to help her but me.
Come home, come home, come home!
Please father, dear father come home.

cho: Hear the sweet voice of the child, **
Which the night winds repeat as they roam!
Oh who could resist this most plaintive of cries,
"Please father dear father come home.

Father, dear father, come home with me, now!
The clock on the steeple strikes two;
The night has grown colder and Benny is worse,
But he has been calling for you.
Indeed his is worse, Ma says he will die
Perhaps before morning shall dawn;
And this is the message she sent me to bring,
"Come quickly! Or he will be gone."
Come home, come home, come home!
Please father, dear father come home.


Father, dear father, come home with me, now!
The clock on the steeple strikes three,
The house is so lonely, the hours are so long
For poor weeping mother and me.
Yes we are alone. Poor Benny is dead
And gone with the angels of light,
And these were the very last words that he said
"I want to kiss Papa goodnight."
Come home, come home, come home!
Please father, dear father come home.

* H.C. Work, in the original sheet music, provided a four-part
harmony for the chorus, and suggested that, if all four part were
not available, that the chorus be omitted.

note: The original sheet music carried the preface:
'Tis the song of little Mary
Standing at the bar-room door
While the shameful midnight revel
Rages wildly as before.

From Songs of Henry Clay Work, Work

RG
apr96