As sung in “Rufus Rastus”, 1906.
Words by Howard Herrick.
Music by Ernest Hogan.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. In the midst of toil and trouble
When sorrows come and go
I love to think of childhood days
The days of long ago
I played down in the barnyard
Ran errands to the store
But the dearest place of all to me
Was grandma’s kitchen floor
CHORUS
Down in grandma’s kitchen playing on the floor
Eating grandma’s cookies, begging for some more
Watching grandma knitting, hearing grandma snore
I wish I were a child again
On grandma’s kitchen floor
2. I went fishing in the mill-stream
At just the break of day
I wandered idly through the woods
When it was time to play
I’d give the world and all its wealth
If time could be restore
Those happy days when I was young
On grandma’s kitchen floor