On a Saturday night all the girls run free Singing "bury me not on the lone prairie" But where do you go when you finish broken-hearted? --back to the dust where you started Jenny cut her teeth in a mid-west shack As a shantytown girl on the wrong end of the tracks Her mama taught her everything she'd need to get along And her Sunday School teacher taught her right and wrong Raised to be respectable but born to be poor It was all she'd ever known but she figured there was more When she came of age Jenny made herself a vow "I'm gonna get out and I don't care how" It appeared every Autumn on the courthouse lawn And the leaves never fell till the carnival was gone Michael was a barker for an arcade ride With a smooth-talk tongue and a wandering eye "Get your tickets here for the Halls O'Mirrors maze If you can't get out I know I couple ways" He caught Jenny's eye but her thoughts looked down All she wanted was a ticket going out of that town (chorus:) Oh how I wanna bury you Bury you and run away--done away How I wanna bury your memory Why don't you let me be? Michael stole a kiss first then he whispered at last "you're a little old-fashioned so forget about your past These Bible belt folks think living is a sin So they all start dying from the day they're born again"
And there atop the Ferris wheel the colours were a blur The morning said he loved her but she wasn't really sure He made her promise not to leave until he came to get her She promised him but she should have known better She cried... She cried-- (chorus:) Oh how I wanna bury you Bury you and run away--done away How I wanna bury your memory Why don't you let me be? Oh, Jenny... On a train--stowaway Jesus loves you still and your mama wants you home But oh bridges burn When you carry your shame and you think you can't return (chorus:) Oh how I wanna bury you Bury you and run away--done away How I wanna bury your memory When they finally found her body on a cold dog day It was in a cattle car buried in the hay A note in the pocket of her calico dress Said "I'm guilty as sin but I can't confess" Once you know the truth you can hide it on a shelf But unless you bring it down you can't live with yourself In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother Jenny had a pistol in the other On a Saturday night all the girls run free Singing "bury me not on the lone prairie" But where do you go when you finish broken-hearted? Back to the dust where you started