Yellow Rose of Santa Fe

I was traveling through the country
A golden sunset at my back
And when nighttime overtook me
I found a place to hang my hat
So I walked in through the front door
The smell of cigarettes and paint
That’s when I first set my eyes on
The yellow rose of Santa Fe
She was dancing with no music
She was floating in the air
And all the while that precious flower
Stayed between her strands of hair
I asked if she’d ever been lonely
She said I’ve never been at all
So she took me worn and weary
And led me drifting down the hall
She read me like the front page
And she loved me like a storm
Though she fixed me with her cold gaze
I’ve never seen a smile so warm
In the morning she was nowhere
As the moon is in the day
The only souvenir she left me
The yellow rose of Santa Fe
Now I moved on and I got married
Had three children with my wife
There’s not a single day that passes
That I’m not happy with my life
But I’m still walking with my shoes off
I don’t think about her every day
But I still carry it with me
The yellow rose of Santa Fe
I was traveling through the country
The golden sunset in a haze
And I can see it in the red sky
The yellow rose of Santa Fe
I can see it in the red sky
The yellow rose of Santa Fe