IRVING BERLIN lyrics - When The Black Sheep Returns To The Fold

[1st verse:]

When the robin returns to its nest

After straying away from the rest

There's a welcome that waits

From its feathery mates

A welcome that can't be expressed

So it is with the boy who decided

From his father and mother to roam

Through his travels he may be misguided

But when fin'lly the black sheep comes home



[Refrain:]

Ev'rything that he did is forgotten

And they welcome him back to the fold

He knows by their sad, wrinkled faces

That the pain of his absence has told

Once again, they all sit 'round the table

As they did in the days of old

And they'll weep tears of joy

As they whisper "My Boy"

When the black sheep returns to the fold



[2nd verse:]

When the smile of a fool starts to fade

When he finds out the errors he made

Then the old-fashioned truth

That he heard in his youth

Says, "Go home," but he is afraid

As he stands on the threshold of sorrow

With the doors of the world closed up tight

He compares yesterday with tomorrow

And decides that he'll go home that night