I was 18 when I came to town they called it the summer of love Burnin' babies burnin' flags the hawks against the dove I took a job at the steaming way down on Caltrim Street Fell in love with a laundry girl that was workin' next to me Brown hair zig-zagged around her face and a look of half surprise Like a fox caught in the headlights there was animal in her eyes She said to me can’t you see I’m not the factory kind If you don’t take me out of here I’ll lose my mind
She was a rare thing fine as a bee’s wing So fine a breath of wind might blow her away She was a lost child, she was runnin’ wild (she said) So long as theres no price on love I’ll stay You wouldn’t want me any other way
We busked around the market towns fruit pickin down in Kent We could tinker pots and pans or knives wherever we went We were campin down the Gower, the work was mighty good She wouldn’t wait for the harvest, I thought we should I said to her we’ll settle down, get a few acres dug With a fire burning in the hearth and babbies on the rug She said Oh man you foolish man that surely sounds like hell You might be lord of half the world, you’ll not own me as well
She was a rare thing fine as a bee’s wing So fine a breath of wind might blow her away She was a lost child, she was runnin’ wild (she said) So long as theres no price on love I’ll stay You wouldn’t want me any other way
We were drinking more in those days our tempers reached a pitch Like a fool I let her run away when she took the rambling itch Last I heard she was living rough back on the Derby beat A bottle of White Horse in her pocket, a Wolfhound at her feet They say that she got married once to a man called Romany Brown Even a gypsy caravan was too much like settlin’ down They say her rose has faded, rough weather and hard booze Maybe thats the price you pay for the chains that you refuse
She was a rare thing, fine as a bee’s wing I miss her more than ever words can say If I could just taste all of her wildness now If I could hold her in my arms today I wouldn’t want her any other way