“Never Tell a Woman Yes”

Oh my, my my

In a dusty caravan
Was a girl with a golden tan
And she asked me if I was headed to the east
I politely stepped aside
And said I did not need a ride
That I’d rather take my chances with the heat

Well, when she turned and walked away
I saw my big mistake
There were jewels on her body oh so rare
Had it been another day
I just might’ve rode away
With that woman ridin’ off to God knows where

So the years, they came and went
And found me livin’ in a tent
Far above a little marble stream
And it may’ve been the light
That shone out through the night
That attracted the hand scratchin’ on my screen

When I cautiously looked out
Through the night, there was no doubt
That the owner of the hand was that girl
So I bid her, “Do come in,
And I’ll open up a tin
If you’ll tell me ’bout your trip around the world”

Well, she said, “If you think back
To the first time that we passed
I’m sure you’ll picture me in all my jewels
And it was shortly after then
That I ran into another man
And I asked him the same question that I asked you

“But now he, he didn’t refuse
And he took off both his shoes
And climbed aboard my eastbound caravan
And in the twinkling of an eye
He had knocked me off the side
And left me there for death upon the sand

“Then I thought that I was done
Lyin’ naked in the sun
When much to my surprise, who should pass?
But this ol’ friend of yours
He said he knew ya from the wars
And I told him that I thought you’d headed west

“Well, he said he should have known
’Cause you liked to be alone
And that’s the time I knew you were my one
So I asked him for a ride
Just to get here by your side
And stay here above this stream out of the sun”

Well, we sat quite for a while
And I began to smile
And I said, “Well, it’s strange, but I don’t care”
And some nights, when I’m at rest
I wonder if I’d said yes
If she’d have come to me from God knows where

Or would I have been the one
To leave her lyin’ in the sun
And then ended up with only precious stones?
Or would the woman in my arms
Be givin’ me her charms
If the answer that I gave her wasn’t “no”?