Friday nights in Louisville were not famous for the excitement or the fun
At 12 they closed the bars
Five past there were no cars
But one day a stranger came and purchased the abandoned house on Main Street
Four blocks away from church
People were outraged
When they lifted up their heads
And saw the sign that read
“Watch out for wild Martha and her gun”.
Pretty soon the streets were filling up with out-of-towners dressed up fancy
Up ‘til Sunday noon
All hotels were full
The stranger hung around and started building up some more hotels on Main Street
To satisfy demand
Put Louisville on the map
Some people were showing content
With the neon sign that read
“Watch out for Wild Martha and her gun”.
Every day the Mayor would receive 100 letters, sometimes more
Complaining about the sin
The city was living in
But the Mayor couldn’t help at all
He could only watch his city grow
The stranger hadn’t broken any law.
Tourism was growing
Foreigners kept on coming
Some were happy about it, some were not.
Everyone could sense
The atmosphere was tense
Something bad was cooking, you could tell.
It all happened Friday night; the midnight show was over at the club
And everyone was drunk
When they walked up to their cars
Soon the flames were rising; you could see the smoke from many miles around
And all throughout the night
The club burnt to the ground
And the only thing the fire saved
Was the neon sign that read
“Watch out for wild Martha and her gun”.
No one was arrested, but the whole town knew who’d done it and what for
But they chose to pass it by
Try to forget the past
And if you go to the old graveyard
You can see it, carved in black
“Here lies poor Wild Martha with her gun”.
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