The neon lights of a movie marquee

Says the show today is Love Is Free

And inside a boy and a girl on a date

Their folks are gone away

They're going to stay out late

A little later on in a lover's lane

They park in the dark with their hearts in flames

He says "oh baby go along with me

I need you so and love is free"

In a simple little room in a Chattanooga home

For girls that need a friend and are all alone

She waits for a letter that never comes

From a boy that won't admit what he's done

She had to leave school because she couldn't stand the shame

Her daddy said she ruined the family name

Her mama cries herself to sleep at night

That's no way to start a young girl's life

Love isn't free, no it ain't free

No matter what they say somebody has to pay for love

In an orphanage home, a sad little girl

Six years old and all alone in the world

She knows by now what they never say

That she once had a mama, but she gave her away

People come to visit but don't choose Marie

She cries at the door "nobody loves me"

And somewhere a boy doesn't care at all

That her tears at night stains her little rag doll

Love isn't free, no it ain't free

No matter what they say somebody has to pay for love

No matter what they say, look who's paying for love