san francisco mabel joy

lord his daddy was an honest man

just a red dirt georgia farmer

and his momma lived her short life having kids and baling hay

he had fifteen years and he ached inside to wander

so he jumped a freight at waycross and wound up in la. the cold nights had no pity on that waycross

georgia farm boy

most days he went hungry

and then the summer came

he met a girl known on the strip as san francisco's mabel joy

destitution's child

born of an la. street called shame"