Oh, my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,
And I'll never see my darling any more,
I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day,
For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.
One night I went to see her, but she's gone, the neighbours say,
The white man has 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.
My 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.