I was sittin' in this five-star place, going nowhere fast
When she caught my attention through the bottom of my glass
She was a waitress in the hotel above this smoky bar
She got up at dawn for breakfast and worked on 'til it got dark
And at six o'clock, when her shift was up
She'd drink the night away
Well, wouldn't you if you served gentlemen all day?
♪
Well, she told me where she came from was a petty kind of town
How her parents became born-agains after her brother got knocked down
And how she found the magazines in the boot of daddy's car
And he told her he was weak sometimes, just like how all gentlemen are
And in summer she'd work in his shop
And then cry the night away
Well, wouldn't you if you served gentlemen all day?
♪
So she left her home and family one cloudy afternoon
And she came here with her girlfriend who had found them both a room
And everyday they'd wake up early and go looking for a wage
In high-heels and makeup they would lie about their age
With her first job as a barmaid
She's just dream her shift away
Well, wouldn't you if you served gentlemen all day?
Gentlemen all day
And one day by the dole office a car window rolled down
And a gentleman asked for directions to her old hometown
And it transpired he knew her family, and he owned a string of bars
So he offered her a job if she would kiss him in his car
So it was that she accepted his advance of one week's pay
Well, wouldn't you if you served gentlemen all day?
Gentlemen all day
And as she told me all these tales she picked a scab around her wrist
That she confessed it was self-inflicted with a whiskey glass like this
Though she gave her name and number to me, I did not give mine
She said maybe I should call her for some fun sometime
♪
And the funniest thing was that that name stuck in my head
And eight months later it was in a headline that I read
They had pulled her out the river in that same black dress
And she lay there, quite the lady for the gentlemen of the press
And her picture in the paper looked so small and far away
Well, wouldn't you if you served gentlemen all day?