When I was five   I put on mama's high heel shoes   And paint my face   Dance across the living room   At Ruby's place   Where the music was always playing   Girls were alive   While the men were saying      [Chorus:]   Apples don't fall far from the tree   Hey honey, come sit on my knee   Apples don't fall far from the tree   And I remember mama's tears   When they said in a few years   I'd be something to see      At seventeen   I had me a diamond   And a string of pearls   Men said they preferred me   To the other girls   They took me to the best of places   But I could read it on their faces      [Chorus]      Then when mama died   I made up my mind   To get on a gray hound   Get out of this town   And leave it all behind   But life goes on   A child of three   Smiles up at me while she plays   A man I loved   Has never heard of Ruby's place   When he holds her with affection   And he uses that old expression      [Chorus]