The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #169904   Message #4108351
Posted By: GUEST,Greg F.
31-May-21 - 03:13 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Mahogany Row (Ernie Marrs)
Subject: Lyr Add: Mahogany Row
MAHOGANY ROW
(Ernie Marrs)

Have you ever been down on the back side of town
Where none of the Queens ever wear a crown?
You might find some faces down there that you know
In the place that the boys call Mahogany Row.

Well, yonder's is a stairway and yonder's a door
Many a stranger has been there before.
Year after year, they come and they go,
They never stay long on Mahogany Row.

The street it is dusty, the houses are old;
Their story is one that has often been told.
Don't look for tables and chairs if you go
The furniture's different on Mahogany Row.

Up on the Main Street, away from the smells,
The sports try to date the society belles.
Maybe it's yes, and maybe it's no
They might change their luck on Mahogany Row.

Some of the customers get spots on their face,
Or else an eruption in some other place.
When they get home, they'll have something to show
In these souvenirs from Mahogany Row.

There goes a girl just as cute as you've seen,
The size of a minute, and maybe fifteen
One wise guy chuckles, and another says low,
"She's been down on Mahogany Row."

Come to the meat market, get your fresh ham!
It's not been inspected by old Uncle Sam;
But some of the nicest people, you know,
Are getting their cut from Mahogany Row.

Time for election; let's have a show
Off to the jail with a dozen or so!
When jobs are scarce and the wages are low,
More talent comes to Mahogany Row.

-------------

per Broadside # 74, Sept 1966

Check It Out

Simplified your link. ---mudelf
Mahogany Row - old colloquial term for red light district with prostitutes who are People of Color.