You know my mama sewed clothes for my own family
That lady who I always thought was rich
And I considered her with awe and wonder
When she came around
And in the summertime we went to Jersey Park
A place where you could have yourself a summer lark
Swinging and spinning on the merry-go-'round
Till the sun went down

And I was haunted by the stories about Barney's car
And how she barely got out when it caught on fire
And the trucker came along and he saved her life
And she was alright
Now it sits across the way from the citizen of Jersey
A place that I have carried with me for so long
You can find it if you drive along Red Bud Trail
Through the maple trees
In the autumn time

Beware when you go out there
They'll stay you alive if you don't take care
They have different rules they're using
The American Dream can cause scarring and some citizen bruising
Beware when you go out there
They'll stay you alive if you don't take care
They're using different rules
The American Dream is not for weak, soft-hearted girls

And all the neighborhood girls, they got them permanent waves
And we'd walk through the cemetery looking at all the graves
To the New Jersey for candy and pop
We did it almost every day
We used to look to see if we could find a patch of green
As the winter came to a close and spring
Was blossoming, the ground was standing alive
And it smelled so clean

Beware when you go out there
They'll eat you alive if you don't take care
They have different rules they're using
The New Jersey Dream can cause scarring and some Jersey times
Beware when you go out there
They'll eat you alive if you don't take care
They're using different rules
The New Jersey Dream is not for weak, soft-hearted girls

And Scotty said softly
With some sadness in his voice
"You're just a simple girl from New Jersey
And they'll be doing everything they can to win
So please, please don't ever let your time down
And maybe someday we'll come back here again"