The Washerwoman

She's just a washerwoman
with the teardrops in her eyes
She's wondering as she scrubs the factory floor

She thinks of all the places
and the faces she has seen
And the other things she'll never see no more

She was born into the backstreets in 1919
War began when she was twenty-one
So she seldom saw the flicker of a silent movie screen
But often heard the cracking of a gun

But given that chance again
oh how she'd dance again
Oh how she'd take to the floor

But no knight in shining armour
would take her by the hand
Like they did in the days before the war.

She tended to the troopers and she fended for the land
So anxious to serve the best she could
And friends of the family tell me how she loved to dance
And those same people say that she was good

But the years have stole her beauty like they often tend to do
And who'd have thought it looking at her now
That the hand that held her partner's hand as she waltzed on through the night
Wiped the sweat from the washerwoman's brow

But given that chance again
oh how she'd dance again
Oh how she'd take to the floor

But no knight in shining armour
would take her by the hand
Like they did in the days before the war.

I remember seven years ago my sister she was wed
And the lady was no washerwoman then
She tripped the light-fantastic and her eyes glistened bright
In a way I thought I'd never see again.

And the legs that she had crucified on endless factory floors
They led her through the footsteps of her past
She was first before a dance-band, last to leave the floor
Oh how she wished that wedded night would last

But now she's just a washerwoman
with the teardrops in her eyes
She's wondering as she scrubs the factory floor

She thinks of all the places
and the faces she has seen
And the other things she'll never see no more

But given that chance again
oh how she'd dance again
Oh how she'd take to the floor

But no knight in shining armour
would take her by the hand
Like they did in the days before the war.

Oh no knight in shining armour
would take her by the hand
Like they did in the days before the war.