I truly need a year down in New Orleans   The hum of a southern drawl that I could understand   And should you meet my sweetheart in New Orleans   Kindly pass my heart into the safety of his hands      I remember clover in the fields south of New Orleans   And we ran so blindly through the roads of summer cane   Now when I'm lonely I send my heart down to New Orleans   To chase my memories alone down through my dreams      How I miss the clarity I left there in my youth   Will there be another heart who can endure my solitude?      His roses grow so lovely in New Orleans   Their petals do recall the mysteries in his eyes   So should you go to that garden in New Orleans   Kindly tend a rose beside his heart for me and sigh