Well, He died on the day their first son was born
Down in quarry, they rang the emergency horn
She knew when she heard it from the kitchen window
She was a wild and wonderful heartbroken widow
Irene, she made it a year, maybe more
Until the county found her laid out on the living room floor
No ties to the law and no food for her child
They took her to the prison where the papers are filed
Oh, sister, they shaved her head clean
And they gave her some time on an electric machine
For to raise her head and lower her highs
And erase all the hurt from her pretty brown eyes
Oh, Irene, she died at the end of November
Down by the banks of the Tennessee River
And no one was there to say her Methodist prayer
As she drowned in that river
No one was there, no one was there, no one
I couldn't blame her, what they made of her mind
I can't wait to meet her, it's a matter of time
That lovely old dress, it's all stained red
Leaning on its frame at the edge of my bed
Oh, with in her in a seat, with her in command
She takes my head weeping into her hands
Oh, Irene, she died at the end of November
Down by the banks of the Tennessee River
And no one was there to say her Methodist prayer
As she drowned in that river
No one was there, no one was there, no one
No one was there, no one was there, no one