In the bend of the big river, by a sleepy southern town
There the water pools and eddies, where the river rushes down
There's a little path to follow to that quiet riverside.
And it's taken almost daily by a young Virginia bride.

She came down here from Milwaukee with her family as a child
And her father and her brother worked the steel mill for awhile
Here she met a young man Thomas, and before the year was done
As they made their binding pledges, the war had just begun.

And who will pass the news just breaking, from the battles far and wide?
Two families in our parlor, with a boy on either side.
Let us hold them up with honor every Sunday 'til the end
And we'll gather 'round this table 'til the boys come home again.

Her brother told their daddy that his heart lay with his kin
Then he headed to Wisconsin, and he joined their fighting men
And her husband, darling Thomas, chose himself to wear the gray
And he left her at their front door one cold November day

And we'll sing (we will sing) Rock of Ages (cleft for me)
Until they come (let me hide) back home to me (myself in thee)
And we’ll cling (we will cling) to each other, and let things be as they might be.

Now she walks down by the river in the evenings just at dark
Behind her sits two houses, close by but far apart
Where two mothers wait in anguish, where two fathers prayers send
But they all will be together 'til their boys come home again.

And who will pass the news just breaking, from the battles far and wide?
Two families in our parlor, with a boy on either side.
Let us hold them up with honor every Sunday 'til the end
And we'll gather 'round this table 'til the boys come home again.
Yes, we'll gather 'round this table 'til the boys come home again.