Flirting
[Recorded by the Carter Family in 1936 as "Just Another Broken Heart." It's the same song but the texts vary significantly.
R. Matteson 2014]
Flirting
Strolling by the lonely river
Under the moon so fair,
A youth in pride of manhood
A maid with soft brown hair
His face, now pale with passion
Now flushed with sunset glow,
only to an eager listener
To a voice so soft and low.
CHORUS:
"I was only flirting
Only a playing a part
Only a man's life blighted
Only a broken heart."
"I never had thought that you loved me,"
She said, as a look of surprise.
Stole under his long dark lashes,
And in his sweet blue eyes.
I'm to be married in the winter,
She said, as she offered her hand,
And gathering her robe around her,
She left him alone on the sand.
As she leans from her carriage window,
The beautiful and haunting face,
A gentle and stately woman,
All clothed in satin and lace.
He goes with a throng of passers,
Ever so silent and cold,
Only too soon grown weary,
Only too soon grown old.