Lulu Leroy

 He was twenty miles from Mobile

Trudging up a big hill

Growing to a man from a boy.

Saw a dirty-faced beauty

Walkin’ free bound to no duty

Introduced herself as Lulu Leroy

She carried an old six string

Showed him how she could sing

Said she wanted to be a star

He said, “sister if ya will

Let’s both hitchhike to Nashville

Show them how you sing and play guitar."

Every honky-tonk and dive in town

She laid her music down

And nobody seemed to catch on

Producers didn’t like her music

Weren’t crazy for acoustics

After six weeks they was gone

Hopped a train north to Chicago

Slept with tramps, bums, and hobos

Tried her style in bars and clubs

Got paid nothin’ but chicken feed

And handouts on corners and streets

Not enough for rent or grub

They slept in the tall grass

West of Topeka Kansas

Her love brought him such joy

She sung a song about him

He was one of many men

Who had the love of Lulu Leroy

She had an Uncle Jim in Fresno

At least that’s what she said so

She was getting itchy and restless

Gave her money to go westbound

She got aboard the next Greyhound

Waved goodbye from the back of the bus.

He headed on north to Fargo

Worked fields where the wind blows

Couldn’t get that girl out of his mind

Cut timber in the Yukon

Oil rigs in Saskatchewan

Looking for something he couldn’t find

After five years he went to Fresno

To find Uncle Jim cause she said so

Found him with a little boy

His hair was black and wild

The way he looked as a child

This was his son and Lulu Leroy’s

Uncle Jim took him on a short ride

To grave upon the hillside

Where there was no tears of joy

He stood broken and alone

And read from the simple headstone

Here lies Lulu Leroy

Raised me not to wander

Be afraid of wind and thunder

To build on life and not destroy

Three graves upon a hillside

That’s where they all reside

Uncle Jim, Daddy, and Lulu Leroy