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

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

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.

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