Cat. #0907 (MFH #466) - As sung by Ollie Gilbert, Mountain View, Arkansas on September 16, 1969
VERSE 1
The express office had opened
When an old man bent with years
Entered in th office
With face set hard in tear
Is this the express office, Sir
I've come to meet my son
They say th train arrive here
Just at half past one
VERSE 2
You've made a sad mistake, Sir
Would like to let you know
This is not express office
H'its only a train depot
You don't understand me, Sir
The ole man shook his head
He's not coming as a passenger
But comin' to me dead
VERSE 3
Just then th whistle pierced the air
Express train, someone cried
The old man rose with feeble steps
An' quickly stepped aside
A casket in a box
Was lowered to th ground
They all seemed heart broken
To those who stood around
VERSE 4
Do not handle 'im roughly boys,
It contains our darling Jack
He went away as you boys did,
See how he's com'in back
He broke his dear ole Mother's heart
Likewise mine broken, too
She told him that he would come home dead
When he joined th boys in blue
VERSE 5
When he joined th boys in blue, Sir
An' went off to th war
He left his aged parents
To go away so far
How often we have wrote to him
An' beg him to come back
You see how lonely we are now
Without our darlin' Jack