Oh, the people would come from far and away
They’d dance all night 'till the break of day
When the caller would holler «Do-si-do,»
You knew Uncle Pen was ready to go
Late in the evening about sun down
High on the hill and above the town
Uncle Pen played the fiddle, lord a how it’d ring
You could hear it talk, you could hear it sing
Oh, he played an old piece he called Soldier’s Joy
And he had one he called Boston Boy
The greatest of all was Ginny Lyn
To me that’s where the fiddlin begin
(chorus)
Oh, I’ll never forget that mournful day
When Uncle Pen was called away
They hung up his fiddle, they hung up his bow
You knew it was time for him to go
(chorus)
Back in the late 80s I use to drive my grandpa to blue grass shows, my grandpas mandolin use to belong to to some old guy that all the bluegrass bands knew, so that mandolin was an automatic backstage pass. These guys did more drugs and partied harder than any rockstars. Great times.
Bill Monroe was the greatest musician off 'modern-times', some of his works such as Tallahasie even rivalled the Classical greats, even Elvis, Johnny Cash, Marc- Bolan, Queen etc couldn't touch him!
"I'll never forget that mournful day
When Uncle Pen was called away
They hung up his fiddle, they hung up his bow
They knew it was time for him to go"
We are listening to this song here in our computers, while the man who sang these verses died 17 years ago... they have a deeper meaning now :p But of course, his mandolin keeps talking and singing like uncle pen's violin.