[Verse 1]Claire was the mayor's daughter, knees went weak when I saw herWe tussled for a summer when I walked in on her and ClydeAnd so she'd often wander with every boy in PotterMany suitors died with honour in war between the states[Verse 2]And Clyde was a cavalry man when he got home to him she ranBut he had eyes for Western lands and left her behindSo Claire settled down, her husband moved her out of townThey tried to lay her past to rest, hung up those evening gowns[Verse 3]Now Jeremiah was a logger we all knew he's off his rockerThought Claire to be his lover, much to her surpriseHer children loved their mother, towards their father she grew fonderHer hair just turned blonder, beauty stood the test of time[Verse 4]Then word got around, that Clyde was back in townBy a way of manifest destiny he had gained himself renownIn the year seventy-five, ten years after Lincoln diedClaire kissed the kids goodnight, snuck off to meet her old friend Clyde[Verse 5]Now Jeremiah saw that chance, his own twisted sick romanceDenying his advances Claire was never seen aliveHe hung for what he'd done, we caught him bloody with his gunHe never told us where she lay, but I know that Claire would run[Verse 6]We never found that girl from Potter, who'd so often wanderTill more than a century later a builder found her in the groundBeneath the cranes of Potter, where Jeremiah shot herThere lies the mayor's daughter, two feet downBeneath the cranes of Potter, hair no longer blonderBeneath the cranes of Potter, in her finest evening gown
