she was called a scarlet woman by the people
who would go to church but left me in the streets
with no parents of my own i never had a home
but an eighteenyearold boy has got to eat
she found me outside one sunday morning
begging money from a man i didn’t know
she took me in and wiped away my childhood
a woman of the streets this lady rose
this bed of rose’s that i lay on
where i was taught to be a man
this bed of rose’s where i’m living
is the only kind of life i’ll understand
she was a handsome woman just thirtyfive
who was spoken to in town by very few
she managed a late evening business
like most of the town wished they could do
4
and i learned all the things that a man should know
from a woman not approved of i suppose
but she died knowing that i really loved her
of life’s bramble bush i picked a rose
this bed of rose’s that i lay on
where i was taught to be a man
this bed of rose’s where i’m living
is the only kind of life i’ll understand
this bed of rose’s that i lay on
where i was taught to be a man
this bed of rose’s where i’m living
is the only kind of life i’ll understand oohoohoohooh
Artist: The Statler Brothers
Year: 1971
Decade: 70s
Language: en
Word Count: 103