Jim Cope: Music
Rosa Lee
(Jim Cope)
Rosa Lee
Music & Lyrics by Jim Cope
In a town just out of Texas on the Oklahoma side,
I found myself incarcerated waiting for to die;
I had no alibi for what they said I’d done,
they said I killed a lady with a gun.
Her name I’m told was Rosa Lee, a flower just in bloom
Working in a dress shop for money board and room
And when she moved about the streets, she never walked alone;
the townfolk called her their very own.
Then one hot and sultry night a stranger came through town;
No one saw his face, they said, for no one was around;
And in the morning when, the morning stars were gone
Their Rosa Lee lay dead upon the ground
The air is still, the sun is hot, there’s sorrow on the face
of townfolk taking Rosa Lee to her resting place
And as the preacher says the words to open heaven’s door
Wounded hearts cry for revenge and nothing more.
Bridge:
I was riding through their town, I did nobody wrong;
a saddle tramp down on his luck with plans for moving on;
They took me from my saddle and would not set me free
They said I killed the one called Rosa Lee
The jury would not listen, the judge he did not care
The town had found a sacrifice for their lady fair
And in the morn-ning when they hang me from a tree
I’ll be the only one with Rosa Lee.
Now I’m the only one with Rosa Lee