[Verse 1] In the year of nineteen-o-three She stood by the iron gate White apron, dark shoes, steady hands Trying to change one fate Her father said, “She’s just a girl” But I looked him in the eye “Let her come under my roof” And the old man finally sighed [Pre-Chorus] She found her a bed upstairs Found her a desk below Stamped forms, carried trays at dawn Kept her brother close A church bell over the ward A train moaned past the square She thought, if I hold this line Nothing here can hurt her there [Chorus] Under my care Under my care I gave my word I gave my care (under my care) Under my care I swore her safe I swore it there [Verse 2] Then he came with a silver watch And a ring he never wore A married man with kind blue words At the side door of the floor He left her roses in a cup He left her shame in bed By winter she was carrying The ruin he had said [Pre-Chorus] She waited for his footsteps At the old back stair But the hallway held her silence And the cold went everywhere When the baby came too early And he never showed his face The whole town turned its eyes away Like she had made this place [Chorus] Under my care Under my care I gave my word I gave my care (under my care) Under my care I swore her safe I swore it there [Bridge] I carried the blame like coal In the pocket of my jeans Every hymn I knew went thin Every prayer felt less She was folded into sorrow While I stood there, still alive And the promise that I broke Kept her buried while I cried [Final Chorus] Under my care Under my care I gave my word I gave my care (under my care) Under my care I swore her safe I swore it there For one hundred years and one I wore that broken prayer
