When Lilly Was Queen Lyrics - Dr. Hook

(Ray Sawyer/Dennis Locorriere/Ron Haffkine) 

Lilly Pearl standin' by the woodstove 

Cookin' up a pot of fatback and beans 

Aprons made outta Martha White flour sack 

Them was the days when Lilly was queen 

There's gonna be a family reunion 

Down around Little River Park 

Lilly got a brand new baby they say 

Jesse Brown had to up and run away 

It might as well rain 'cause nobody came 

Jesse left so fast the baby got no name 

Lilly Pearl, what'cha gonna name your baby? 

Lilly Pearl, what'cha gonna name your child? 

Lilly Pearl, they say he run away and left you crazy 

But ooh ooh your man had a pretty smile 

Lilly Pearl told most folks 

She could raise her baby fine without a man 

But she cried at the table to her kin folk 

Her people cried with her, but did they understand? 

Lilly Pearl still standin' by the woodstove 

Talkin' to a pot of fatback and beans 

Twenty years later, still cookin' a spread 

But there's no reunion 'cause the family's mostly dead 

They took her baby at the age of 13 

Left her livin' in the days when Lilly was queen 

Lilly Pearl, did you ever name your baby? 

Lilly Pearl, do you ever miss your child? 

Lilly Pearl, his daddy run away and left you crazy 

But ooh ooh your man had a pretty smile 

Lilly Pearl, you never gonna know your baby? 

Lilly Pearl, they never let you see your child? 

Lilly Pearl, they say he run away and left you crazy 

But ooh ooh your man had a pretty smile 

(c) 1973 Blackwood Music Inc., & Reekooh Music