Threadwinder.info - When Mother Plays a Rag on the Sewing Machine words by Joe McCarthy & Joe Goodwin, music by Chris. Smith, 1912, Leo. Feist, New York.

    Graphic of father and daughter dancing while mother sews at the sewing machine.

      Verse 1: “A quaint old fashioned homestead in a country town,
                  With ev’ry thing as quiet as a mouse, Where Father, Mother, sister, brother gather ‘round
                  And ev’rything is gladness in the house – There ain’t no grand piano there to cheer them all,
                  But Mother leaves the family and wanders to the hall.
                  She goes about her house work in a quiet sort of way,
                  And ev’ry one is happy when they hear her play.
      Chorus: When Mother plays a rag upon the sewing machine,
                  She keeps her foot a go-in;
                  All the while she’s sew-in;
                  She makes the needle dip and take a stitch in between,
                  and then the spool-begins a twist-in’ like a fool,
                  All the neighbors come to mother’s sewing school,
                  They gather ‘round they gather ‘round,
                  Folks from all the different parts of town,
                  they gather ‘round,
                  Daddy starts a cutting’ up with baby Josephine,
                  While mother plays a rag upon the sewing machine.
      Verse 2: When the village band rehearses in the Squire’s barn,
                  Because they give a concert once a year,
                  Then Mother takes the stockings in her lap to darn,
                  And croon a song that’s pleasing to the ear.
                  The time to give the concert comes and there’s the band,
                  See Father with his fiddle there sittin’ in the stand,
                  They play a tune but here’s the big attraction in between,
                  When Mother plays a solo on her old machine."