Song Lyrics

I was of poor folk
But my mother had a rabbit fur coat
And a girl of less character pushed her down the la river
'hand over that rabbit fur coat'
She put a knife to her throat
'hand over that rabbit fur coat'
When my ma refused, the girl kicked dirt on her blouse
'stay away from my mansion house'

my mother really suffered for that
Spent her life in a gold plated body cast
Now, you ask, did she get that girl back?
She payed a visit to that mansion house
She knew the girl was not there
But her father was in cufflinks with slicked-back black hair
He invited her in, they never sang a note
But she took off that rabbit fur coat

and who do you think came home?
Miss so and so
She took one look at my mama and what did she say?
'why are you stealing from my mansion house?'
'I'm in love with mr so and so
He invited me in, I'm a girl no more'
Then she dragged my ma out by her throat
'hand over that rabbit fur coat'

let's move ahead twenty years, shall we?
She was waitressing on welfare, we were living in the valley
A lady says to my ma 'you treat your girl as your spouse
You can live in a mansion house'
And so we did, and I became a hundred-thousand-dollar kid
When I was old enough to realize, wiped the dust from my mother's eyes
It's all this for that rabbit fur coat

but I'm not bitter about it
I've packed up my things and let them have at it
And the fortune faded, as fortunes often do
And so did that mansion house
Where my ma is now, I don't know
She was living in her car, I was living on the road
And I hear she's putting stuff up her nose
And still wearing that rabbit fur coat

but mostly I'm a hypocrite
I sing songs about the defecit
But when I sell out and leave omaha
What will I get?
A mansion house and a rabbit fur coat

Jenny Diane Lewis