There's a low green valley on the old Kentucky shore
Where we've whiled many happy hours away
A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door
Where lived my darling Nelly Gray

Oh my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away
And I'll never see my darling anymore
I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day
For you're gone from the old Kentucky shore

When the moon had climbed the mountain and the stars were shining too
Then I'd take my darling Nelly Gray
And we'd float down the river in my little red canoe
While my banjo sweetly I would play

Oh my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away
And I'll never see my darling anymore
I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day
For you're gone from the old Kentucky shore

One night I went to see her but "she's gone" the neighbors say
The white man bound her with his chain
They have taken her to Georgia for to wear her life away
As she toils in the cotton and the cane

Oh my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away
And I'll never see my darling anymore
I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day
For you're gone from the old Kentucky shore

My canoe is under water and my banjo is unstrung
I'm tired of living anymore
My eyes shall look downward and my song shall be unsung
While I stay on the old Kentucky shore

Oh my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away
And I'll never see my darling anymore
I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day
For you're gone from the old Kentucky shore

My old eyes are getting blinded, and I cannot see my way
Hark! there's somebody knocking at the door
Oh, I hear the angels calling and I see my Nelly Gray
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore

Oh my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say
They'll never take you from me anymore
I'm coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore! 

I'm coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!