Mother, The Queen Of My Heart
by Hoyt Bryant and Jimmie Rodgers
"When I was just a
kid, I was sitting in a restaurant and overheard a
conversation between two guys who were evidently both
gamblers. One of the guys was telling a story very
similar to the story in this song and he said that it
had actually happened to him. I remembered the story,
dressed it up and changed it around to make it into a
song. The first line originally was, 'I had a home out
in Georgia.' Jimmie Rodgers changed it to 'I had a home
out in Texas,' since he was living in Texas at the
time."
—Thomas Hoyt (Slim) Bryant
Mother, The Queen Of My Heart
I had a home out in Texas, down where the blue bonnets
grew. I had the kindest old mother; how happy we were,
just we two. 'Till one day the angels called her, that
debt we all have to pay. She called me close to her
bedside, these last few words to say:
"Son, don't start drinking and gambling, promise you'll
always go straight" Ten years have passed since that
parting, that promise I've broke, I must say I started
in gambling for pastime, at last I was just like them
all, I bet my clothes and my money, not dreaming that
I'd ever fall.
One night I bet all my money, nothing was left to be
seen
All that I needed to break them was one card, and that
was a queen. The cards were dealt all 'round the table,
each man took a card on the draw I drew the one that
would beat them; I turned it and here's what I saw:
I saw my mother's picture, and somehow she seemed to say
"Son, you have broken your promise," so I tossed the
cards away. My winnings I gave to a newsboy, I knew I
was wrong from the start; And I'll ne'er forget that
promise, to mother, the queen of my heart.
