I went to Staten Island
To buy myself a mandolin
And I saw the long white dress of love
On a storefront mannequinBig boat chuggin' back with a belly full of cars
All for something lacy
Some girl's going to see that dress
And crave that day like crazyThe little Indian kids on a bridge up in Canada
They can balance and they can climb
Like their fathers before them
They'll walk the girders of the Manhattan skylineShine your light on me, Miss Liberty
Because as soon as this ferry boat docks
I'm headed to the church to play Bingo
Fleece me with the gamblers' flocksI can keep my cool at poker
But I'm a fool when love's at stake
Because I can't conceal emotion
What I'm feeling's always written on my faceThere's a gypsy down on Bleecker Street
I went in to see her as a kind of joke
And she lit a candle for my love luck
And eighteen bucks went up in smokeSharon, I left my man
At a North Dakota junction
And I came out to the "Big Apple" here
To face the dream's malfunctionLove's a repetitious danger
You'd think I'd be accustomed to
Well, I do accept the changes
At least better than I used to doA woman I knew just drowned herself
The well was deep and muddy
She was just shaking off futility
Or punishing somebodyMy friends were calling up all day yesterday
All emotions and abstractions
It seems we all live so close to that line
And so far from satisfactionDora says, "Have children"
Mama and Betsy say, "Find yourself a charity"
Help the needy and the crippled
Or put some time into Ecology"Well, there's a wide wide world of noble causes
And lovely landscapes to discover
But all I really want right now
Is find another loverWhen we were kids in Maidstone, Sharon
I went to every wedding in that little town
To see the tears and the kisses
And the pretty lady in the white lace wedding gownAnd walking home on the railroad tracks
Or swinging on the playground swing
Love stimulated my illusions
More than anythingAnd when I went skating after Golden Reggie
You know it was white lace I was chasing
Chasing dreams
Mama's nylons underneath my cowgirl jeansHe showed me, first you get the kisses
And then you get the tears
But the ceremony of the bells and lace
Still veils this reckless fool hereNow there are 29 skaters on Wolmann rink
Circling in singles and in pairs
In this vigorous anonymity, a blank face
At the window stares and stares and stares and staresAnd the power of reason
And the flowers of deep feelings
Seem to serve me
Only to deceive meSharon, you've got a husband
And a family and a farm
I've got the apple of temptation
And a diamond snake around my armBut you still have your music
And I've still got my eyes on the land and the sky
You sing for your friends and your family
I'll walk green pastures by and by