Love Wore A Halo (Back Before The War)

(Nanci Griffith)

She owned a hotel on the Jersey shore
She made her living sending sailors door to door
He was the small one with a crooked smile
Oh, he made her eyes light up like the heavens on the fourth of July

She ran the numbers they say she ran 'em clean
Those porcelain hands could keep a ledger even in her sleep
While he worked the Seabees in the Philippines
They say she made more money than you or I will ever see

Chorus
Love was an anchor on the Jersey shore
If you were looking for love, boys, you could've found it in forty-four
Cause love wore a halo back before the war
When the men loved the women and the women knew what men were for

It was in the winter when he came home
He had to hold those porcelain hands just to keep her warm
So, they had a daughter they named her Stephanie Anne
Hey, they sent her off to Vassar to find herself a family man

Chorus

Now, she sold the hotel it belongs to me
I watch those sailors come and go like the waves in the seas
I've hung their portraits in the honeyoon suite
I hear they're fishin' their lives away in the Florida Keys

Chorus