She was called a scarlet woman by the people
Who would go to church, but left me in the street
With no parents of my own, I'd never had a home
And an 18-year-old 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 livin'
Is the only kind of life I understand
She was a handsome woman, just 35
Who was spoken to in town by very few
She managed the late evening business
Like most of the town wished they could do
And I've 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
Off life's bramble bush, I picked the 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 livin'
Is the only kind of life I 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 livin'
Is the only kind of life I understand
Ooh
