She was something in her formative years

She'd hide her accent, it would reappear

When she would brag on what daddy bought last night

Only pretty girls were in that crowd

They'd tease a handful of poor kids out loud

And even then I knew it wasn't right.

Smoke rises,

You were never kind

Good news,

I've left you all behind

Some who

Hoped that it would last

Smoke rise, I'm glad you're in my past.

Most of the kids were better than me

Or at least they thought so,

And it was plain to see

That children are cruel

And I didn't have a fighting chance

I wasn't a jock, I wasn't a brain

We weren't well-off and mama couldn't explain

Why no one would take a poor boy to the dance.

Smoke rises,

You were never kind

Good news,

I've left you all behind

Some who,

Hoped that it would last

Smoke rise, I'm glad you're in my past.

[X2]

Those bold rich kids find it hard to embrace

When they bus black kids in from all over the place

The county tried to prove their schools were all the same

Old jim crow tried to integrate

But in the south its hard to relate

When grandpa used the n-word with no shame.

Oh, smoke rises,

You were never kind

Good news,

I've left you all behind

Some who,

Hoped that it would last

Smoke rise, I'm glad you're in my past.