She said, "I watch him walk down Main Street A sweet one man parade
He'd tip his hat and just like that another score he'd made
I'd watch the girls all watch him; moths drawn to the flame
The money showed, the laughter flowed from the way he played the game
He played the game

"Some said he was a rambler, some said he was a rake
Some said he was a gambler, some said he was a fake
But I knew him like no one else, a gentleman was he
His days belonged to himself, his nights belonged to me
Belonged to me

"And they're talkin' in the town square,
In the taverns and the shops
I hear them talkin' everywhere
Their talkin' never stops
But all their words of wisdom won't make you go away
The day they closed the factory down they had nothing,
Nothing left to say

She said, "I take care of my momma now, since my father died
I'm raising baby brother, too, the way my father tried
His thirty years in the factory ended in that furnace blast
But they settled up for ten bucks a week and the bitterness is past,
It did not last

"So they're moving somewhere else now
With their cloths and fabric press They found themselves another town where they'll make shirts for less
And that is why he said last night he won't watch the old town die
But I would not take what he tried to leave, when he told me 'Good bye'
Ah, it's good bye

"And they're talkin' in the town square,
In the taverns and the shops
I hear them talkin' everywhere
Their talkin' never stops
But all their words of wisdom won't make you go away

The day they closed the factory down they had nothing,
Nothing left to say"
"So they're talkin' of the changes the closing brings about
Talkin' of the hard times and the young folks moving out
Yes, they're talking as if talking can make everything all right
But all the talking ever done won't bring him back tonight
Ah, tonight

And they're talkin' talkin' talkin' talkin'
Talkin' in the shops
I hear them talkin' everywhere
Their talkin' never stops
But all their words of wisdom won't make you go away
The day they closed the factory down they had nothing
Nothing left to say"