Lyric West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown

West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown
By: Jimmy Buffett
1974
Standin on side of the Highway 4 exit
A lady in tie-dye, a bag by her side
Not really lookin like anything special
Saw Tennessee tags and she waved for a ride

Sat right beside me as the meter hit sixty
Splainin her travels and her family background
When she got through I could not help but thinkin
She s a long way from a West Nashville grand ballroom gown

Chorus:
Father had money and her mother had love
Channelled entirely to her dear sister Dove
Twenty-two years in society s plan
Was cancelled in the swing of her dear mother s hand

Six hours later we hit Cincinnati
Yawnin , she woke and then asked where we were
When she found out, she said I must be goin
This close to Nashville was too close for her

So I stopped by the roadside and I gave her five dollars
She took it then kissed me and gave me a note
She told me just to read it then mail it in Nashville
On old loose-leaf paper to her mother she wrote

Chorus:
She said, "Mama I m fine if you happen to wonder
I don t have much money but I still get around
I haven t made church in near thirty-six Sundays
So fuck all those West Nashville grand ballroom gowns"

Yes she s a long way from a West Nashville grand ballroom gown