Shirley Caesar - Faded rose

^E7You know, all too soon s^A7eemly our children grow^D up overnight. They ^Gget married;^D some of them go to college. ^{A7 D}They move away from home to New York and Chicago and ^A other places. But th^De saddest thing about it is that they ^D7 forget that they have a darling mother back home. So it is ^G I’m thinking about a young man who left and mo^Dved away to G^Aermany, and while he^D was there, he was critical^Bm7ly wounded s^E7o much so that the doctor said, “that he wo^A7uld never walk again”. He had b^Draces on his legs and another ^G s^Dad thing happen to that young man, He lost hi^A7s mot^Dher. And the fa^Amily tried to ^Dget in touch with him but to no avail. And ^D7 finally we ^Gsee that young man standing with braces on his ^Dlegs before a fresh grave, ^Awith on faded rose in his han^Dd. As ^Bm7 he began to drop the petals from the rose on that grav^E7e, he ^A7 began to talk^D to his mother. These are s^Gome of the words he was sayi^Dng to his mother: ^A7

^DPetals f^Arom thi^Ds faded roses^D7 momma, is all I have t^Go give, ^{D A} But momma I tried to^D g^Bm7ive you flowers,^E7 every now^A7 and then. ^{D G} Oh yes I d^Did. ^D7

^GIf I had a million doll^G7ars, I’d line ^Dyour grave wi^Ath gold, but ^{D A} That wou^Dldn’t wake y^Bm7ou from ^Dyour sleep, as eternal ages ^{E7 A7}grow.

^DSo petals fro^Am this^D fade^D7d rose, is all I have to^G give. But ^{D A} momma I tried t^Do ^Bm7make you happy, w^E7hile yo^A7u lived. (While ^{D G} you li^Dved)

^GYou know while that young man stood there, dro^Dpping the ^{A D}petals on the fresh grave, ^Atwo of^D his sisters drove up in a ^D7big fine car, ^Gthey got out and they put their arm about his s^Dhoulder. One^A of his sisters said “Brother don’t cry, said you ^D know we did all we could to g^Bm7et in touch with you. But one ^E7 thing I ^A7did, I knew tha^Dt you would be pleased with, I took ^G my diamond ring a^Dnd placed it, on momma’s finger an^Ad the ^D other sister said,” Brothe^D7r, so do you remember that fur coat that I h^Gad, I draped it about momma’s shoulders, but the yo^Dung man standing there crying, couldn^A’t think about d^Diamonds and furs. All ^Bm7he could think of was the best thing ^E7 he had was gone, ^A7and with the few more petals left on the ^D rose, ^Ghe continue to drop th^Dem on the grave and he said to ^A7his mother:

^DDiamond rings and ^Asilver t^D7hings momma, I never had, I ^G never had^D to give, but^A momma I tried to give ^Dyo^Bm7u a flower ^{E7 A7}every n^Dow and then. (Now and ^Gthen) Yes I d^Did. ^D7

^GIf I had a million doll^G7ars, I’d line ^Dyour grave wi^Ath gold, but ^{D A} That wou^Dldn’t wake ^Bm7you fr^Dom your sleep, as eternal ages ^{E7 A7}grow.

^DSo petals from thi^As faded ^Droses i^D7s all I hav^Ge to give, but ^{D A} momma I tried ^Dto^Bm7 make you happy, w^E7hile yo^A7u lived. ^D (Back Ground singers repeat (While you live^G.)) ^D