Sixteen Summers, Fifteen Falls Lyrics

Townes Van Zandt Sixteen Summers, Fifteen Falls

Let me tell you a story 'bout a girl I knew
Fairest skin with eyes of blue
I swear to the Lord that I loved her true
It's a year now she's been gone

Her spirit was as bright as the soft sunshine
Lips, the color of strawberry wine
I wish to God, she still was mine
The chance won't come again

After first, we lay in love's sweet bed
With one look at her eyes, I might have read
All the pain that was flying through her head
Through my guilt I could not see

I turned to her when the morning came
Hungry thoughts racing through my brain
But the knife in her heart screamed herself she'd slain
And a note whispered love too soon

Her old man screamed and her mother cried
All I could do was to wonder why
A girl in her youth was forced to die
Is loving such a crime?

She died
(Few in the years)
With breasts still small
Seeing sixteens summers and fifteen falls
Me and my blindness never realized all
The fear she kept inside

Let me tell you a story 'bout a girl I knew
Fairest skin with eyes of blue
I swear to the Lord that I loved her true