(Shall we gather at the river that flows by the throne of God) The church doors opened one Sunday in a little country town The people all were silent in the rain that misted down And an old gray-haired granddad his shoulders stooped with pain Was holdin' fast a little boy who kept cryin' in the rain And in the dim candlelight within a casket lay so still That soon would lie beneath the earth up at the top of the hill The little boy kept askin' in a low and plaintive tone What's wrong with mommy grandpa won't she be comin' home It's awful lonesome grandpa since daddy went away And mommy's all the reason why I'm happy every day Wouldn't she feel better grandpa if I layed down by her side The old man turned and faced him and with these words replied Mother went a walkin' son away up in the sky Along the brook that winds among the stars up there on high And down the valley where the sun goes home at night to sleep Mother went a walkin' son she wouldn't want us to weep The boy didn't seem to understand just where his mom had gone He couldn't realize that now she wouldn't be comin' home He saw the rain on grandpa's face he didn't know he cried And of course he couldn't hear the words that grandpa said inside Mother went a walkin' son up yonder in the sky And all that we can do down here son is bow our heads and cry She's gone to meet your daddy son and take him by the hand Yes mother went a walkin' son in God's great meadowland