If I was a little girl once, I don't remember
No, no, can't remember that
But I know there was a time when my Grandma was alive
And her house was soft as an old felt hat
Grandma herself corseted, powdered and stockinged
Into an impressive dignity
She was the cornerstone on which my family balanced like a circus act
She gave a sort of grace to our uncertainty
Under Grandma's roof was a world unto itself
With round corners, where everything was pretty
I'd breathe in its sweet scents; it was beyond my life's experience
This unchecked delight in femininity
What will I ever love better than the deep mysteries
Of her corner cupboard
Under lock and key, in alluring secrecy
Those treasures spoke to me like a lover
When the flowers would bloom in the spring
Grandma's magnolia tree burst into teacups
It was all her best china and the birds would sing:
Cup-of-tea cup-of-tea, sugar sugar, cheer-up
Oh, best of everything, best of everything
Grandma kept her house with the help of a hired girl she called Katy
And a man who worked the yard
He'd be out there on his knees among the roses and peonies
She lived there 'til it got too hard
They moved her away and they told her "Lie down, be still"
They meant for eternity
And she obeyed; she believed in the good book and heaven
And the holy trinity
When the flowers would bloom in the spring
Grandma's magnolia tree burst into teacups
It was all her best china and the birds would sing:
Cup-of-tea cup-of-tea, sugar sugar, cheer-up
Oh, best of everything, best of everything
No, no, can't remember that
But I know there was a time when my Grandma was alive
And her house was soft as an old felt hat
Grandma herself corseted, powdered and stockinged
Into an impressive dignity
She was the cornerstone on which my family balanced like a circus act
She gave a sort of grace to our uncertainty
Under Grandma's roof was a world unto itself
With round corners, where everything was pretty
I'd breathe in its sweet scents; it was beyond my life's experience
This unchecked delight in femininity
What will I ever love better than the deep mysteries
Of her corner cupboard
Under lock and key, in alluring secrecy
Those treasures spoke to me like a lover
When the flowers would bloom in the spring
Grandma's magnolia tree burst into teacups
It was all her best china and the birds would sing:
Cup-of-tea cup-of-tea, sugar sugar, cheer-up
Oh, best of everything, best of everything
Grandma kept her house with the help of a hired girl she called Katy
And a man who worked the yard
He'd be out there on his knees among the roses and peonies
She lived there 'til it got too hard
They moved her away and they told her "Lie down, be still"
They meant for eternity
And she obeyed; she believed in the good book and heaven
And the holy trinity
When the flowers would bloom in the spring
Grandma's magnolia tree burst into teacups
It was all her best china and the birds would sing:
Cup-of-tea cup-of-tea, sugar sugar, cheer-up
Oh, best of everything, best of everything