Sixteen Summers, Fifteen Falls

By townes van zandt

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