Last evening, the boys and I were all down at the local saloon talking about the world as a whole, and since we seemed to have a shortage of women present, the conversation naturally turned in that direction. The piano man was playing away on some old Don Williams tunes and we started musing on why more women didn't join us every evening. Much of my career was spent watching people interact in the world of smoke and neon. There were all kinds represented in the world of the night people, but some just seemed to be ordinary folks searching hard for someone to love. Many were ladies who showed evidence that life had not been kind to them. They always seemed be drawn to guys with a big "L" tattooed on their foreheads. I was always tempted to break cover and go over and ask them if they knew what that tattoo meant. Instead I wrote a song back in the early eighties that describes the scene and allows for a little advice to be given. It would probably be banned today because of my repeated use of the term "Pretty Lady". I always thought Willie could probably do a good job singing it.
PRETTY LADY
The dreams she had are fading
And her love is slowly jading
For her heart she freely gave with no return
Now her smile hides her sorrow
And her soul longs for tomorrow
When perhaps she’ll find a love that will be true
Pretty lady, pretty lady I sing this song for you
For I know your heart is aching for a love that will be true
And with time will help to heal the wounds
From the loves that you once knew
Pretty lady, pretty lady I sing this song for you.
But with uncontrolled desire
This lady plays with fire
Knowing full well that someday she will get burned
Oh the lady needs a lover
Who will put no one above her
And will love her like no one has done before.
Pretty lady, pretty lady I sing this song for you
Seek an uncontested lover who will pledge his love to you
If he cannot now be faithful, he will not be true to you.
Pretty lady, pretty lady don’t break your heart in two.
The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing. - Henry S. Haskins
