A little maiden
Climbs an old man knee
Begs for a story
Do Uncle please
Why are you lonely?
Why do you roam?
Have you no sweetheart?
Have you no home?
I had a sweetheart long, long ago
Why we were not wed you soon will know
List' to my story, I'll tell it all
I broke her heart then, after the ball
Afer the ball is over, just at the break of dawn
After the band has ended, and all the stars are gone
Many's a heart has taken, if you could read them all
Many's a fond of that's vanished, after the ball
After the ball
No lights are shining, in the big ballroom
Softly the organ is playing a tune
There stood my sweetheart, my love, my all
I wished some water leavin' her alone
When I returned, there stood a lad, kissing my sweetheart, as lover's can
Down went the glass I held, broken on the floor, just like my heart was after the ball
After the ball is over, just at the break of dawn
After the band has ended, and all the stars are gone
Many the heart is taken, if you could read them all Many the fond that's vanished after the ball
Many years have gone by, I have not wept
True to my first love, though she is dead...
She tried to tell me, tried to explain
I would not listen, leave me in vain
One day a letter came from this man, he was her brother the letter read
That's why I'm lonely
No home at all
I broke her heart then, after the ball
After the ball is over, just at the break of dawn
After the band is ended, and all the stars are gone
Many's the heart that's taken, if you could read them all
Many's the fond of that's vanished, after the ball
Many's the of that's vanished, after the ball...
End