Songs of Will T. Massey — “Poor Girls”

Will abruptly left Austin at the beginning of 2014, and headed back to San Angelo. There, he settled into self-imposed solitude at a secluded ranch house that his father owned outside of town.

He never stopped writing, of course, producing a series of songs that he started sharing in a few scattered performances. This video comes from a rare Austin show from that year, a house concert in the South Austin backyard of Tamara Dwyer and Denis Fitzpatrick.

Eventually, this song, like others written in his time of retreat wound up his 2016 CD, The Weathering.

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I’ve always had a heart for poor girls —
They understand and yearn so much more.
If you’ve ever loved a poor girl,
You understand it’s a cruel, old world.

The first time I shacked it up with a poor girl,
Her dad was rich but he was watching TV.
“We’ll be back after these messages,” — poor girl,
When she was hungry, she was looking at me.

I’m sorry, baby, that I never got rich —
Guess there’s still time yet.
I was thinking maybe we could get to the beach
And learn to forget.

The second time I threw down with a poor girl,
She found the cocaine and then the darkness, too.
There was a rock & roll crash of echo in the burning noon —
I tell her you’re still the same girl I was talking to.

I’m sorry, baby, that I never got rich—
But I’m rich in some sense.
I was thinking maybe we get into reach
And learn to forget.

It’s hard for me to say “You’re a poor girl,”
You got the most beautiful daughters I’ve seen.
And over the years, you’re bound to be a poor girl
Paying for your daughters’ dreams.

I’m sorry, baby, that I never got rich.
You know God will cover some bets.
I was thinking maybe we could let life teach
And learn to forget.

Will T. Massey and Dave Ducharme-Jones