My favorite Henry Clay Work song (also on the Nonesuch LP, I believe) is "Come Home, Father", a song about a young girl trying to get her father to leave the saloon and come home to be by the side of his dying son (the girl's little brother.) I used to sing it at FSGW open sings in years past.

I never thought it was mawkish or hilariously sentimental, but always found (and find) it genuinely affecting.