Who thanked the Lord for the clothes

that she wore and mended,

Nellie with the big old fashioned eyes

Who won the heart of a crowd

tore apart, took a bow,

Nellie there's a different world backstage



(Chorus:)

I see the flood lights burning

I hear the band play on

Now Nellie takes her bow



She said she really could not stay

She had a brand new play to play

And so she paints her face and smiles

And she'll be someone else in a while



(Chorus)



Just a lonely girl who could not face a broken world,

And so she acts out all her dreams and wishes that's how it had been

But when the audience is near, it seems as though she doesn't even care.



(Chorus)



Nellie just sent me a line to tell me she was doing fine

She got the lead and on Broadway, and now they're digging her today

And as she turns the final page, living

someone's life upon the stage



(Chorus