There were no cuckoos, no sycamores
Played upon the forest floors
Underneath the silver maple
Balsams and the sky
We plucked the heads off the dandelions
Assuming roles of nursery rhymes
Rested on the riverbed
And grew up by and by
And grew up by and by

Frail my heart apart and play me a little shady grove
Ring the bells are in me
'til they ring inside my head forever
Bounce the ball, rock the gallows for the hangman's reel
And wake the devil from his dream
I'm going back to Harlan
I'm going back to Harlan, oh
I'm going back

And if you were Willie Moore
I was Bob Rallen
Oh, fair Ellen, oh, sat at the cabin door
Weepin' and a-pining for love
Oh, weeping and a-pining for love


Frail my heart apart and play me a little shady grove
Ring the bells are in me
'til they ring inside my head forever
Bounce the ball, rock the gallows for the hangman's reel
And wake the devil from his dream
I'm going back to Harlan
I'm going back to Harlan, oh
I'm going back


I'm going back to Harlan, oh
I'm going back to Harlan
I'm going back to Harlan