Listen now children a story I'll tell
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Of a woman they called Anna Lee
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She had a fine son and she raised him up well
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And a daughter as lovely as she
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I'll return to you, dear, in the dimming of day
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As the sparrow returns to her nest
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I'll return to you dreaming with each lullaby
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Hold your sweet weary head to my breast
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She sang to her darlings a sweet lullaby
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As the cool evening shadows grow long
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Angels and nightingales gather at night
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Just to hear mother Anna Lee's song
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I'll return to you, dear, in the dimming of day
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As the sparrow returns to her nest
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I'll return to you dreaming with each lullaby
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Hold your sweet weary head to my breast
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I heard it one morning she rode into town
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To tend to her dear sister there
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She kissed her two babies on check and on brow
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And left them with nary a care
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The wind it did rise and the rain it did fall
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The river, a shadowy wave
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Anna Lee never heard danger's dark call
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And was swept to her watery grave
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I'll return to you, dear, in the dimming of day
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As the sparrow returns to her nest
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I'll return to you dreaming with each lullaby
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Hold your sweet weary head to my breast
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Anna Lee
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Levon Helm |