Author: Ralph Stanley

MAMA WAS HIS WILD WOOD FLOWER, MY DADDY USED TO SAY
AND TO PROVE TO HER HE LOVED HER, HE'D PLAY IT EVERY DAY
MOM WOULD LOOK AT HIM AND SMILE, SHE'D SAY GOD BLESS MY MAN
I DON'T REGRET ONE SINGLE TIME, THAT I GAVE HIM MY HAND

CHORUS
THE WILD WOOD FLOWER (WILD WOOD FLOWER)
WAS HIS FAVORITE SONG
AND WHEN HE PLAYED FOR MAMA
OUR HOUSE BECAME A HOME

MOM TOOK SICK AND PASSED AWAY, THIS WAS HIS DARKEST HOUR
HE CAME HOME THAT VERY DAY, AND HE PLAYED THE WILD WOOD FLOWER
TIME WENT BY AND HE GREW OLD, HE'D SIT AND PLAY FOR HOURS
MEMORIES OF MOM ON HIS OLD GUITAR, HE'D PLAY THE WILD WOOD FLOWER

CHORUS

ONE NIGHT AS I WALKED BY HIS HOUSE, I THOUGHT I HEARD HIS SONG
I HEARD MOMA TALKIN' BUT MOM HAD LONG BEEN GONE
I LOOKED THROUGH THE WINDOW, AND SAW GOD'S MIGHTY POWER
THERE SAT MOM AND DADDY, HE WAS PLAYIN' THE WILD WOOD FLOWER

CHORUS

AS HE GREW OLD, HE COULD PLAY NO MORE, AND HIS MIND BEGAN TO FAIL
WE'D OFTEN FIND HIM IN THE FIELD, HE SEEMED SO OLD AND FRAIL
ONE DAY WE COULDN'T FIND HIM, AND AFTER MANY DAYS
FOUND HIM LYIN' WITH THE WILD WOOD FLOWERS, UP ON MAMA'S GRAVE

CHORUS, (THEN THE LAST TWO LINES)