Jimmy Buffett - West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown lyrics

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