Sing Again That Sweet Refrain - song lyrics 
American Old-time song lyrics from www.traditionalmusic.co.uk 
SING AGAIN THAT SWEET REFRAIN. Copyright, 1894, by Spaulding & Gray. . Words and music by Gussie L. Davis. 
The music hall was crowded in a city o'er the sea, And brilliant lights were burning ev'rywhere, The songs and witty sayings filled the audience with glee, For the minstrels from the Sunny South were there. A minstrel sang a song about his old plantation home, Down upon the Swannee River far away: Then a gray-haired, aged darkey eat in sadness and in gloom., He rose, and this is what they heard him say: 
Refrain. Sing again that sweet refrain, "Dar's where the old folks stay;" It takes me back to slav'ry days, before I was sold away; Along de swannee River banks, dar's where I used to roam: Nows I'se old and gray and far away, "far from the old folks at home." 
The minstrel sang the song again, band eyes grew dim with tears. The aged darkey eat with head bowed low; And something in his heart awoke that slumbered there for years, 'Twas the memory of a mother long ago. The play let out to loud applause, and when the curtain fell, The darkey slowly tottered on his way; Thinking of the sweet-voiced singer, and the song he'd sung so well, Thinking of the song that made him rise and say:-Refrain.