To go with the six chorus girls requested in the DT version:

Sixteen coal-black horses,
Hitched to a rubber-tired hack,
Carried seven girls to the graveyard;
Only six of 'em came back.

(Autoharp Complete Method and Music, Lewis Music Pub. Corp.)

Never did quite get it for sure-- is it the dying girlfriend requesting the six chorus girls, or is it grieving Joe? Depending on viewpoint and placement of that verse, it can be either-- the dying girl going out in a final chorus line, which I like, kicking her way into heaven or hell... or Joe going out surrounded by babes in memory of the dear lost babe, which I like, having a last sendoff his departed dear would have smiled upon.

Ah, the timeless themes of our chosen culture!

~Susan