She was barely sixteen when she left home for the first time
Sick of picking up her father’s beer
She arrived to the city in the spring in the sunshine
With the promise to never go back there

With no money, no friends and nowhere to lay her head
She went looking for a place to stay
That’s where he picked her up and promised her a bed
And if she stayed she would get her pay

Oh Cecilia you would never let them see you cry
You were always the stronger one
And Cecilia when they asked you to stay on the street
You would turn your head and run

She was almost seventeen when she came up to me and asked
If I had some money to spare
I asked about her name and she told of her past
And of the burden she had learned to bare

I offered her my couch and I said it was ok
If she needed a place to sleep
As I laid down in my bed I could hear her pray
For a love of her own to keep

Oh Cecilia when you asked if you could sleep in my bed
I did not have the heart to turn you down
But Cecilia you must have understood by now
It was out of pity I kept you around

She was just about eighteen when I betrayed her with another
One of her friends from work
I looked at her and told her that I never really loved her
She left screaming and calling me a jerk

She found herself on the street once again
Shivering, cold and alone
And when she ran in to an alley to take cover from the rain
She figured she would never have a place to call her home

Oh Cecilia you used to tell me you loved me
That I was all that mattered to you
But Cecilia you were never a part of my plan
I’m sorry I was not there to hold you

She was barely nineteen when she laid down for the last time
Worn out and beaten by life
Tired of the sex, drugs and petty crime
She threw herself over the knife

Betrayed by the ones she should’ve been able to trust
Used by the men she had adored
A victim of alcohol, power, abuse and lust
Her end would become her reward

Oh Cecilia what could you have known of the world
Built by and for its men
And Cecilia you were told this’s what it’s like a girl
It’s the same story now as then
It’s the same story now as then