I second ARKIE's pick of TEX WILLIAMS recording of:

THE NIGHT MISS NANCY ANNE'S HOTEL FOR SINGLE GIRLS BURNED DOWN

Now Miss Nancy Ann ran a boardin' house
with a faded sign that read
"Single Rooms For Single Girls"
"No Men Allowed", it said
But rumor had it that a gentleman
with a yen for love for a fee
Could always go to Nancy Ann's
for some feminine company

Well one night in June in the Billiard Room
I was chalking up with a friend
He was set to break when the door burst open
and Leo James rushed in
He yelled there's a fire that's just broke out
and it's down at Nancy Ann's
So we dropped our cues on the poolroom floor
and down the street we ran

CHORUS

Though the flames were hot
and the smoke was thick
not a single life was lost
And the reason for the blaze was never found
But it long will be remembered in our local history
As the fire that fairly scandalized the town
The night Miss Nancy Ann's Hotel
For Single Girls burned down

When we got to the place the front was a blaze
and so was the second floor
So we cut around the side and up the alley
and stopped a-side the back door
We were catchin' our breath when the door flew open
and knocked poor Leo flat
And out through the smoke ran Mayor Wills
wearin' nothing but a black silk hat

And right behind him with his shirt tail afire
came the local chief of police
And banker Jones with the red-haired girl
he always said was his niece
And then I spied Miss Nancy Ann herself
helping someone else out of the fire
Her arm around the red bald head
of old Judge McEntire

A deacon, a dentist, a deputy sheriff,
and one state congressman
The county physician, the city mortician,
out through the flames they ran
The grand parade of girls in gowns
and hat claid gentlemen
Through the thick gray smoke that certainly smelled
like french perfume and gin

CHORUS

Now everybody was out at the girl's hotel
by the time the roof caved in
We were headin' back to the billiard hall
when Leo turned to my friend
He said I believe that's the funniest show
I've ever seen in town
The so called elite caught out in the street
with their pompous purity down

CHORUS

[Ray Stevens XEROX CHRISTMAS LETTER is a hillarious also]

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