I believe the first line has a IV chord (C) in it as follows:
G C G
Well I wonder how the old folks are at home
G C
I wonder if they'll miss me when I'm gone
C G
I wonder if they pray
G
For the boy who went away
A D
And left his dear old parents all alone …
This has been done many ways, not all of them good. I remember that Mac Wiseman, during “the great folk scare,” recorded a version with a gratuitous relative minor thrown in. Shudder.
- Mark