(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