Now, Miss Nancy Ann ran a boarding house
With a faded sign that read
"Single rooms for single girls
No men allowed", it said
The rumor had it that if a gentleman
Was willing to pay a fee
He could always go down to Nancy Ann's
For some feminine company
Now, one night in June in the billiard room
I was chalking up with a friend
He was set to break when through the door
Old Leo James ran in
"There's a fire that just broke out", he yelled
"And it's down at Nancy Ann's"
So we dropped our cuesticks on the floor
And down the street we ran
Though the flames were hot
And the smoke was thick
Not a single life was lost
And the reason for the blaze was never found
But it long will be remembered
In our local history
As the fire that nearly scandalized the town
The night Miss Nancy Ann's hotel
For single girls burned down
When we got to the place
The front was ablaze
And so was the second floor
So we crossed the track
And went around to the back
And stopped at the alley door
We was catching our breath
When the door flew open
And knocked poor Leo flat
And out through the smoke ran Mayor Will
Wearing nothing but a black silk hat
And right behind him
With his shirt tail afire
Came our local chief of police
And the banker Jones
With a redheaded girl
He'd always said was his niece
Then I spied Miss Nancy Ann herself
Helping someone out of the fire
Her arm around the red bald head
Of old judge McIntyre
A deacon, a dentist, a deputy sheriff
And one state congressman
A county physician
The city mortician
Out through the flames they ran
A grand parade of girls in gowns
And half-clad gentlemen
Out through the heat
And smoke that reeked
Of French perfume and gin
Though the flames were hot
And the smoke was thick
Not a single life was lost
And the reason for the blaze was never found
But it long will be remembered
In our local history
As the fire that nearly scandalized the town
The night Miss Nancy Ann's hotel
For single girls burned down
Everybody was out
Of that girls hotel
By the time the roof caved in
And we were heading back
To the billiard hall
When Leo turned to my friend
He said, "I believe that's the funniest show
That I've ever seen in town
The so-called elite
Caught out in the street
With their pompous purity down"
Though the flames were hot
And the smoke was thick
Not a single life was lost
And the reason for the blaze was never found
But it long will be remembered
In our local history
As the fire that nearly scandalized the town
The night Miss Nancy Ann's hotel
For single girls burned down