1 Can a boy forget his mother’s prayer,
When he has wandered, God knows where?
It’s down the path of death and shame,
But mother’s prayers are heard the same!

Refrain:
Come back, my boy, come back, I say,
And walk now in thy mother’s way;
Come back, my boy, come back, I say,
And walk now in thy mother’s way.

2 Can a boy forget his mother’s face,
Whose heart was kind and filled with grace?
Her loving voice it echoes sweet:
She waits, she longs, her boy to meet! [Refrain]

3 Can a boy forget his mother’s door,
From which he wandered years before?
With tears and sighs she said, Goodbye!
Meet me, my boy, beyond the sky! [Refrain]

4 Can a boy forget that she is dead,
Though many years have passed and fled?
Those tears, that prayer, that sweet Goodbye;
She waits to welcome thee on high! [Refrain]