Chorus
Down by the tabernacle, oh!
Where the June bugs danced
And the lemonade flowed
And we prayed and we sang 'til
The sun sank low
Laughing with our sisters and brothers.
Down by the tabernacle, hey!
Where you knew you were loved
And you wanted to stay,
Though the summer heat
Was like judgment day,
We always enjoyed each other.

Verse 1
Well, we went to the river
And some were baptized,
We clapped our hands and testified
Then we passed around the chicken
And the buttermilk pie
And nothing ever tasted better.
Then the kids played ball
And the babies just played
And the old men napped
Out under the shade
And the women picked flowers
And sipped lemonade
And sat around talkin' together.

Chorus
Down by the tabernacle, oh!
Where the June bugs danced
And the lemonade flowed
And we prayed and we sang 'til
The sun sank low
Laughing with our sisters and brothers.
Down by the tabernacle, hey!
Where you knew you were loved
And you wanted to stay,
Though the summer heat
Was like judgment day,
We always enjoyed each other.

Verse 2
Well I look back now
And I wish that I could
Go back to the time
When life was good,
When everybody lived
The way that they should
At least that's the way I recall.
We loved our God with all of our might
And everybody knew
The wrong from the right,
And we worked all day
And slept all night
And we were proud and stood tall.

Chorus
Down by the tabernacle, oh!
Where the June bugs danced
And the lemonade flowed
And we prayed and we sang 'til
The sun sank low
Laughing with our sisters and brothers.
Down by the tabernacle, hey!
Where you knew you were loved
And you wanted to stay,
Though the summer heat
Was like judgment day,
We always enjoyed each other.

Down by the tabernacle!
Down by the tabernacle!
Down by the tabernacle!