At nine, Jessie’s in bed
Reading to fill up the space in her head
At nine, everything’s clean
Her visions of how a good man outta be

Her dad was a tough one, but kind
He taught her to read and to tie fishing line
Well Jessie was hard as a rock
It’s funny how one guy can mess it all up

Be warned girl
He’s gonna swoop in and mess up the things you believe
It’s his world
And he’ll beg for your heart like a dumb dog bites at your sleeve

Tell you he’s never felt this way
Tell you it’s never been this deep
And for someone like young Jessie May
All it takes is a wave and a “please”
Soon, Matthew’s in love
But Jessie can't even breathe

Well Matthew takes up too much space
He yells and he fights til he’s blue in the face
But somehow there’s space in his tin-can soul
To love sweet Jessie more than he can control

His mom was a tough one, but kind
She taught him the Bible to find the divine
Well Matthew was sweeter than sin
You can’t imagine how much trouble Jessie was in

Be warned girl
He’s gonna swoop in and mess up the things you believe
It’s his world
And he’ll beg for your heart like a dumb dog bites at your sleeve

Tell you he’s never felt this way
Tell you it’s never been this deep
And for someone like young Jessie May
All it takes is a wink and a “marry me”
Soon, Matthew’s in love
But Jessie can't even breathe

Be warned girl
He’s gonna ride up on a horse as high as the trees
It’s his world
And he’ll beg for your love like a broken young man at your feet

Tell you this is the last time he’ll ask
Tell you he might as well just leave
But for someone like smart Jessie May
It takes more than a half-hearted “please”
Well, Matthew’s in love
But Jessie can finally breathe
Breathe