She was born on a Tuesday afternoon in West Memphis
In the dog days of summer, to a drunk man and his wife
It was all they could do, to feed her brothers and her sisters
So they never even tried to give this one a better life

But she'd have dreams, just like the next one
And they would come at a great price
She would be nobody's savior
But she would be the sacrifice

They'd say, 'Pearl, go get your boots on, we've got a field to plow
Girl, put down that book, you ain't got no time to read right now'
Mama, she don't know the kind of visions that I see
But my ticket to the world is the soul inside of me

She'd go barefoot down to Beale street, she had no fancy shoes
She's tell them, she was 21 and got paid to sing the blues
She'd crawl back into her window every night at 2:00 am
And pray her daddy didn't come to steal her innocence again

But finally she had her bus fare
They never found out where she'd gone
She left a note that said, 'I'm goin' someplace
To make this life a better home'

They'd say, 'Pearl, go get your boots on, we've got a field to plow
Girl put down that book, you ain't got no time to read right now'
Mama, she don't know the kind of visions that I see
But my ticket to the world is the soul inside of me

I met her in a lonely church one cloudy afternoon
She was singin' softly to the Lord and fillin' up the room
I said, 'I've seen you on the big stage, lights and glory all around
Pearl, what brings you to this place?', she said,'It's my hometown'

And I need just like the next one to remember who I was
So I've come back to find forgiveness
To see my past through eyes of love

They'd say, 'Pearl, go get your boots on, we've got a field to plow
Girl, put down that book, you ain't got no time to read right now'
Mama, she don't know the kind of visions that I see
But my ticket to the world is the soul inside of me
(Soul inside of me, soul inside of me, soul inside of me)
Pearl, soul inside of me