Rose Tattoo

Intro: verse 1 The sun's gonna rise and in my cold green eyes Is the hell that I’ve been through What I learned tonight, is that this world ain’t right And the devil’s got a rose tattoo verse 2 Eight-fifty-one, we arrived at the club I was wearing my last good dress My man had bet everything he could get And I was trying to get us out of the mess At nine o’clock I made my walk Like a tigress to the stage And the people would stand like I was worth ten grand And not singing for minimum wage verse 3 Ten minutes in, they were passing the gin And the club became a roar My man was having a ball, but all I recall Is his face when he looked toward the door I was going to town when a hush came down The dance floor became a tomb A woman stepped in, she was small and slim But her presence filled the whole damn room verse 4 My man went pale like a torn up sail As the woman walked right past me Her dress was grey like a stormy day And it flowed like a restless sea I went flat on a note, I was watching her throat She wore a necklace of pure jade And her sleeve hung down off one side of her gown To show a rose down her shoulder blade Bridge I lost sight of her and the rest was a blur As I sang and paced the stage Eleven-o'-one, I was finally done And I sprung like a cat from a cage He was gone from there, so I searched everywhere Till I found a girl I knew She said, "He left your show about an hour ago With a woman with a rose tattoo" Verse 5 I walked the street till I was dead on my feet And I hit every joint I knew I heard a man say, "I saw that woman in grey I think her name is Penny LaRue" Where she’s been and what’s her sin No one in New Orleans knows All they can tell, is she’s an angel from hell With a tattoo of a rose Verse 6 I said a prayer, let down my hair I was now in the bad part of town It was 3am and I followed some men To a club called the Underground I stepped inside, I could feel the vibe There was danger in the room And a whole lotta sin, sweat and skin And the smell of cheap perfume Verse 7 But through the lusty display was a woman in grey Smiling like she knew When she turned around, where her dress hung down Was a shoulder with a rose tattoo I saw the love she’d deprived me of He was standing in that restless throng When suddenly, he noticed me But something just a-felt all wrong Bridge I heard a shout, a knife came out My man got in the way He was dead as a door before he hit the floor While the band continued to play I tried to scream, but like a horrible dream There was nothing I could do Time died, a siren cried I saw a flash of a rose tattoo Verse 8 I’m on the curb with a cop named Herb Trying to sort out this mess It’s five-twenty-five, I feel barely alive And I’m wearing my last good dress The sun’s gonna rise and in my cold green eyes Is the hell I’ve been through What I learned tonight, is that this world ain’t right And the devil’s got a rose tattoo