John Wesley Harding - The Red Rose And The Briar

Midweek and we reached Scarlet Town
I was almost dying of thirst
We parked the car in some old schoolyard
The windscreen caked in dirt
There was no water in the engine left
No tread upon the tyres
The electrics were broke cos you went mad
You ripped out all the wires

Across the road, a small cafe
In this state of disrepair
You went for papers and a shave
So I saved you a chair
I knew it wasn't the journey's end And that your dream was incomplete
But I just could not stand anymore
I was dead upon my feet
I was dead upon my feet

There's nothing there in the market square
But the ghost of the Scarlet Town Crier
I was dead upon my feet
I sing the red rose and the briar
I sing the red rose and the briar

The waitress told me her life story
She'd always meant to up and go
She wiped a cup on her red pinafore