San Francisco Mabel Joy
Joan Baez Lyrics

His daddy was a simple man, just a red dirt Georgia farmer
Mabel Joy's lover's father was a humble farmer living in Georgia

And his momma spent her young live havin´ kids and balin´ hay
His mother spent most of her youth taking care of their family and working on the farm

He had fifteen years and an ache inside to wander
At the age of fifteen, he had a strong desire and curiosity to explore the world

So he hopped a freight in Waycross and wound up in L.A.
To fulfill his wanderlust, he boarded a freight train in Waycross and ended up in Los Angeles

Lord, the cold nights had no pity on a Waycross, Georgia farm boy
The frigid nights were difficult to bear for someone from Waycross, where the weather is warmer

Most days he went hungry then the summer came
Most days, he went without food until summertime arrived

He met a girl known on the strip as San Francisco´s Mabel Joy
He met a woman on the strip who everyone called San Francisco's Mabel Joy

Destitution´s child born of an L.A. street called "Shame"
She was born into poverty on a street in Los Angeles known as 'Shame'

Growin´ up came quietly in the arms of Mabel Joy
He quietly grew up while in a romantic relationship with Mabel Joy

Laughter found their mornings brought meaning to his life
Starting the day together with laughter gave his life a sense of purpose

Yes the night before she left sleep came and left that
The night before she left him, he had a difficult time sleeping

Waycross, Georgia boy with dreams of Georgia cotton and a California wife
He was a boy from Waycross with aspirations of being a cotton farmer in Georgia and marrying someone from California

Sunday morning found him standin´ ´neath the red light at her door
On a Sunday morning, he was waiting outside of her door under the red light

When a right cross sent him reelin´ put him face down on the floor
He was punched and knocked to the ground

In place of Mabel Joy he found a merchant mad marine
He didn't find Mabel Joy, instead he found an angry and aggressive merchant marine

Who growled, "Your Georgia neck is red but sunny, you´re still green"
The merchant marine taunted him for being an inexperienced and naive farm boy from Georgia

He turned twenty-one in a grey rock fed´ral prison
Mabel Joy's lover spent his 21st birthday in a federal prison made of grey rock

The old judge had no mercy for a Waycross, Georgia boy
The judge was not compassionate towards someone from Waycross, Georgia

Starin´ at those four grey walls in silence he would listen
While in prison, he would sit in silence and listen to the sound of the train he hoped would take him back to Mabel Joy

To that midnight freight he knew would take him back to Mabel Joy
He had faith that a midnight train would take him back to Mabel Joy

Sunday morning´ found him standin´ ´neath the red light at her door
Once again, he found himself standing outside of Mabel Joy's door on a Sunday morning

With a bullet in his side, he cried, "Have you seen Mabel Joy?"
Having been shot, he desperately asked if anyone had seen Mabel Joy

Stunned and shaken someone said, "Why she´s not here no more
Someone responded to his question and told him that Mabel Joy was no longer there

She left this house four years today, they say she´s lookin´ for some Georgia farm boy"
Four years ago on that day, Mabel Joy left the house and was potentially looking for a farm boy from Georgia