Love Has Come Lately

Linda was a blonde, fair, bluegrass queen
Left wealthy parents for love of me
Married her when I was young and wild
Left her heavy, heavy with child

Ran down to Memphis
Then down to New Orleans
Chasing women and gambler dreams
Between card games and one night stands
Though about Linda and the babe in her hands

Now love has come lately
Love has come strong
Come like the sunrise
Of a beautiful dawn
Why must a man
Wait so long
Before he realizes
He's done someone wrong

Whiskey went sour
The ladies turned cold
My mind on Linda
I headed home
Three years o'runnin
Hoped and I prayed
I might amend
The love I betrayed
The old house was empty on Cherokee Lane
Boarded doors, cracked window panes
Cobweb corners, Dust an inch high
No woman's voice. No soft baby's cry

Now love has come lately
Love has come strong
Come like the sunrise
Of a beautiful dawn
Why must a man
Wait so long
Before he realizes
He's done something wrong

Eyed an old neighbor, on her front lawn
Asked her where my Linda had gone
She's o'er on East Hill
'Neath six feet of each
That pretty lady, who died given birth
The child, she said
Is in good shepherd's care
In salty tear haste, I found my way there
Didn't take long to recognize
Our little girl had Linda's blue eyes

Now loves has come lately
Love has come strong
Come like the sunrise
Of a beautiful dawn
Why must a man
Wait so long
Before he realizes
He's done someone wrong