Cranes of Potter

Claire was the mayor's daughter, knees went weak when I saw her
We tussled for a summer when I walked in on her and Clyde
And so she'd often wander with every boy in Potter
Many suitors died with honour in war between the states

And Clyde was a cavalry man when he got home to him she ran
But he had eyes for Western lands and left her behind
So Claire settled down, her husband moved her out of town
They tried to lay her past to rest, hung up those evening gowns

Now Jeremiah was a logger we all knew he's off his rocker
Thought Claire to be his lover, much to her surprise
Her children loved their mother, towards their father she grew fonder
Her hair just turned blonder, beauty stood the test of time

Then word got around, that Clyde was back in town
By a way of manifest destiny he had gained himself renown
In the year seventy-five, ten years after Lincoln died
Claire kissed the kids goodnight, snuck off to meet her old friend Clyde

Now Jeremiah saw that chance, his own twisted sick romance
Denying his advances Claire was never seen alive
He hung for what he'd done, we caught him bloody with his gun
He never told us where she lay, but I know that Claire would run

We never found that girl from Potter, who'd so often wander
Till more than a century later a builder found her in the ground
Beneath the cranes of Potter, where Jeremiah shot her
There lies the mayor's daughter, two feet down
Beneath the cranes of Potter, hair no longer blonder
Beneath the cranes of Potter, in her finest evening gown