I have travel'd all de way from Alabama,
Where I've spent a many bright and happy day,
And I'm thinking of de lov'd ones left behind me,
In de little old log cabin far away;
Oh! I wish they'd never told me of de land,
That so very long I've tried to find, in vain,
For I'm tired and my heavy heart is aching,
And I fear I'll never see de folks again.
Chorus:
Lonely tramping on de prairie,
All de same where e'er I stray,
Tell me, white man, am dis Kansas,
Where de darkies come to play?
I have often hoed de corn and pick'd de cotton,
From de rising to de setting of de sun,
But I knew de one I lov'd was fondly waiting
With a welcome when de weary work was done;
How I long to see de blooming fields again,
And de mansion where old Massa used to dwell,
But 'tis now in dreams alone I see de places,
And de color'd folks dis darky lov'd so well.
Chorus:
Lonely tramping on de prairie,
All de same where e'er I stray,
Tell me, white man, am dis Kansas,
Where de darkies come to play?
Now I'm plowing up de ground among de stubble,
Getting ready for de early crops to grow,
And de fields are just as white as Alabama's
Only here de cotton happens to be snow;
Oh, I never shall forget de last goodbye,
When I stepp'd aboard de steamer by de shore,
And if ever I should reach again my cabin,
There, for sure, I know I'd live forevermore.
Chorus:
Lonely tramping on de prairie,
All de same where e'er I stray,
Tell me, white man, am dis Kansas,
Where de darkies come to play?