BUENA VISTA
(THE BATTLE OF VICKSBURG)
and
TIME DRAWS NEAR

Sung by: Mr. and Mrs. Berry Sutterfield
Recorded in Marshall, AR 6/14/63

 Click here to listen to the original recording
TIME DRAWS NEAR
(I LOVE YOU WELL)
A time draws near, my dearest dear,
When you and I must part.
There’s no one knows the inward grief
Of my poor troubled heart.

Oh, shall I go far away, my love,
Or shall I tarry here?
My true love’s arms are long and slender,
Like snowy billows appear.

Her cheeks are as the roses red,
Her lips like ruby bloom.
Her eyes are as the diamonds bright;
Her beauty is so fair.

There is no fault in my true love,
As mortal eyes can see.

(Dr. Wolf: “Good. Now, what’s the name of that one?”
Mr. Sutterfield: “Turn that off.”
Dr. Wolf: “I want the name of it.”
Mrs. Sutterfield: “ ‘Time Draws Near.’”
Dr. Wolf: “ ‘Time Draws Near.’)

Also found in Randolph, Vol. IV, #760, “I Love You Well.”

BUENA VISTA
(THE BATTLE OF VICKSBURG)
(Mr. Sutterfield: "If you'll start it, I'll help you sing it."
Mrs. Sutterfield: "Well, I can't start it. I get it too high."
Mr. Sutterfield: "No, you won't. You won't get it too high."
Mrs. Sutterfield: "No, I can't start it."
Mr. Sutterfield starts to sing.
Mrs. Sutterfield: "Now, don't get it too high. I just can't sing."
Mr. Sutterfield: "Okay, I'll hush. You start it.")

On Buena Vista's bloody fields
A wounded soldier lies,
Whose thoughts were on his happy home
Ten thousand miles away.

Oh, when you see my Mama dear,
Be careful how you speak.
The cords of life might snap too quick;
Her heart might be too weak.

Speak softly, softly to her then,
And tell her that I died.
Tell Mama that her own son true
A soldier's death did die.

Oh, there's another dear to me,
That's gentle as a fawn,
That lives up on that murmuring stream
That overlooks the lawn.

The lawn where I will nevermore
In springtime's happy hours,
Go forth with her and . . .
To gather wildwood flowers.

There is one tress her own hand gave,
And from it never part,
And when I'm dead, don't you forget
To lay it on my heart.

Oh, comrades now, both far and near,
You've made my last cold bed.
Tomorrow the sun shall rise;
I will be numbered dead.

Also found in Randolph, Vol. II, #225, "The Battle of Vicksburg"; Belden, p. 340, "Buena Vista."

All Songs Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr., unless otherwise noted

The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection
Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas
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