"Why There's a Tear in My Eye" is a song by Carson Robison (An Old Man's Story) from 1928 that the Carters played with Jimmie Rodgers at their 1931 session in Louisville KY.

WHY THERE'S A TEAR IN MY EYE- Carter family 1931

               I once loved a beautiful maiden
               As fair as the blue skies above
               And each night as we wandered together
               The moon seemed to smile on our love

               We vowed to be true to each other
               That nothing could cause us to part
               But we never once dreamed that the future
               Held only a broken heart

               Then there came the night when we parted
               We quarreled as all sweethearts do
               And I learned what it was to be jealous
               When they told me her love was untrue

               She told me she had always been faithful
               She swore that her love could not die
               And then when I did not believe her
               She kissed me and told me goodbye

                   Oh-de-lay-ee-oh, de-lay-ee
                   Yo-de-lay-ee
                   [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]
                  
               I found I had falsely accused her
               And went back to make her my bride
               And there in the door stood her mother
               She told me my sweetheart had died

               I went in and knelt down beside her
               And there in the hush of that room
               I prayed that my maker would take me
               And send my soul down to its doom

               So now I have told you the reason
               There's always a tear in my eye
               Through long weary years I've repented
               But I'm longing to lay down and die

               I wonder if I'll be forgiven
               When I face the master someday
               And I wonder if I'll see my sweetheart
               On that beautiful shore far away

                   Oh-de-lay-ee-oh, de-lay-ee
                   Yo-de-lay-ee