Pale moon shining on the fields below,
Folks are crooning songs soft and low,
Needn't tell me so, because I know,
It's sleepy time down south.
Soft winds blowing through the pinewood trees,
Folks down there live a life of ease,
When the twilight brings the evening breeze,
It's sleepy time down south.
Steamboats on the river a-comin' and a-goin',
Splashing the night away,
Hear those banjos ringin', the folks are all a-singin',
They dance till break of day.
Dear old southland, with its dreamy songs
Takes me back there where I belong,
How I'd love to be in mother's arms
When it's sleepy time down south.