[Verse 1] There's a birdie little birdie Come and sing me your song Got a short time to stay here And a long time to be gone I'm a long way from old baby seed In my old Kentucky home Although both my parents are dead and gone And a place to call my home [Chorus] There's a birdie little birdie Come and sing me your song Got a short time to stay here And a long time to be gone [Verse 2] Now I'll rather be a sailor Way out upon the sea When been home a married man With a baby on my knee For a married man this is trouble And the single voice is done I expected little sea golf Though my days on earth are done [Chorus] There's a birdie little birdie Come and sing me your song Got a short time to stay here And a long time to be gone [Bridge] I'll rather be in some dark hollow Where the sun don't ever shine And to say you love another When you promise to be mine [Chorus] There's a birdie little birdie Come and sing me your song Got a short time to stay here And a long time to be gone There's a birdie little birdie Come and sing me your song Got a short time to stay here And a long time to be gone