She was called a scarlet woman by the people Who would go to church but left me in the street With no parents of my own, I never had a home And an eighteen year old boy has got to eat. She found me outside one Sunday morning Begging money from a man I didn't know She took me in and wiped away my childhood A woman of the streets this lady Rose. REFREN: This bed of Rose's that I lay on Where I was taught to be a man This bed of Rose's where I'm livin' Is the only kind of love I understand. She was a handsome woman, just thirty-four Who was spoken to in town by very few She managed a late evening business Like most of the town wished they could do. And I learned all the things that a man should know From a woman not approved of I suppose But she died knowing that I really loved her Off life's bramble bush, I picked a rose. -REFREN- (2x)