a rickety fence and a rocking chair the smell of my father s pipe the cackling goose in the summer air the garden is green and ripe suddenly now i m far away even if in my mind i m listening to my mama saying if you can find the time come home come home and rest awhile come home come home and rest awhile get on home to shiloh the farther i have wandered off the fonder i have grown shiloh yeah all the while i find a smile thinkin about my home the autumn breeze is calling me away calling me home to shiloh over the ocean the soldier sailed the battle is finally won his mother is pressed up against the railing trying to find her son well suddenly now she sees a face easy to recognize it s been years to wait for the sweet embrace holding him as she cries you d better get on home to shiloh the farther that you wander off the fonder you will grow shiloh yeah all the while he found a smile thinkin about his home a sweet reunion coming through in waves calling him home to shiloh i ve been thinkin about my home i ve never been but i will i know the meadow green and the river wide the valley deep and the mountain high the saints of old are singing now my ears are ringing with the sound but greater still as clear as day i can hear my savior saying i can hear my savior saying i can hear my savior say  come home come home and rest awhile come home come home and rest awhile better get on home to shiloh