Girl on the Street Rodney Crowell

[Verse 1]
She spied me through the traffic and was on me in a flash
Some soft soaked out-of-towner and an easy mark for cash
In contrast to her ragged cloak of filth and disrepair
Was a dark-eyed mystic beauty and a raven shock of hair
With what was feral frantic motion, her every move was laced
With the kind of desperation born of demons not yet faced
Quite clearly she was hounded by some not-to-distant-past
That was feasting on each moment like it just might be her last

[Chorus]
The girl on the street was once somebody's daughter
Yeah, the girl on the street was once somebody's friend
The girl on the street, one more lamb led to the slaughter
Where for three dimes and a quarter she gets nothing in the end

[Verse 2]
She hit me up with hunger, first things first you know
But a little too coquettish for my sympathies to show
She offered up her favors with a nod below the belt
And a parting shot at pity for the cards that she'd been dealt
"Its dope," said I, "Be truthful, its right there in your eyes
You know that stuff will kill you it's a loaded pack of lies"
She rolled her sleeve and slapped her vein and spat out "Three months clean
Don't pretend you know me, man. just cough up something green"