The Ballad of Ridge Street

There was a girl with velvet eyes
had a pocket full of wishes and a pocket full of lies
she crossed a path with a crooked smile
and just kept going for a thousand miles

She walked so far she almost fell off
she once fell down and she once had a cough
talked to a guy with a big radio
and a man on the corner playing dominoes
no one down there had fancy clothes
it was a sad and lonely time

Build me a house by the waterside
take me to Jordan in the summertime
I won't feel lost in your arms
I will be ever by your side

Fate, the fickle bastard said
you won't go alone every night to bed
he sent her a lover for a pile of tears
she told him all her deepest darkest fears

Now all the flags in this part of town were black
people sewed them into shirts and old felt hats
the girl and her lover bought a sailing ship
took off their clothes and tied them to the mast
sailed away and they never came back

Build me a house by the waterside
take me to Jordan in the summertime
I won't feel lost in your arms
Ithe people wondered by and by
about the girl who'd been struck
by the evil eye

For she felt no shame she lived as she pleased
because love is a strange and sweet disease

Build me a house by the waterside
take me to Jordan in the summertime
I won't feel lost in your arms
I will be ever by your side