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