C                            C+                    Am
Who thanked the Lord for the clothes that she wore and mended

C7     F        G                 C
Nellie with the big old fashioned eyes

C                      C+                Am
Who won the heart of a crowd tore apart, took a bow

C7     F         G               C
Nellie there's a different world backstage


(Chorus:)
Bb        Fmaj7
I see the flood lights burning

Bb         Fmaj7
I hear the band play on

Bb  Am    Gm  F     F   C
Now Nel---lie takes her bow


C            C+               Am
She said she really could not stay

C7     F         G                 C
Nellie she had a brand new play to play

C          C+                  Am       C7
And so she paints her face and smiles

F             G                  C
And she'll be some one else in a while

(Chorus)

C                            C+
Just another lonely girl who could not face a broken world

Am
And so she acts out all her dreams

C7
and wishes that's how it had been

F
But when the audience is near

G                                      C
It seems as though she doesn't seem to care

C                             C+
Nellie just sent me a line to tell me she was doing fine

Am
She got the lead and on Brodway

C7
And now they're digging her today

F
And as she turns the final page

G                               C
Living some one's life upon the stage