I remember it all very well lookin' back,
It was the summer I turned eighteen.
We lived in a one-room rundown shack,
On the outskirts of New Orleans.
We didn't have money for food or rent,
To say the least, we were hard pressed.
And Mama'd spent every last penny we had
To buy me a dancin' dress.
Mama washed and combed and curled my hair,
And she painted my eyes and lips.
Then I stepped into a satin dancin' dress
That had a split on the side clean up to my hip.
It was red velvet trim and it fit me good.
Standin' back from the lookin' glass,
There stood a woman where
A half grown kid had stood.
She said,
