This is
the story of Little Tommy
Mortensen...
He was just one of the guys
If little mountain towns don’t ask no questions
Then nobody’s tellin’ no lies
He was waitin’ after work for the loggin crew
Seems he always wore a chambray shirt
Fresh bandaid on his forehead
Said the skin cancer didn’t hurt.
With a Butch-wax flat-top an’ big ol’ shoes
On a barstool, you could find
The little man in a clean baggy shirt
Drinkin’ beer and passin’ time.
This is the story of Little Tommy Mortensen
He was just one of the guys
If little mountain towns don’ ask no questions
Then nobody’s tellin’ no lies
Nobody knew or cared about
Where he live or did before
He made a few bucks cleanin’ up the bar
And spent ‘em at the store.
He lived alon with a little dog
He didn’t like to go to town
He wouldn’t see no doctor
When he was sick and goin’ down
In a cabin in the middle of a long cold winter
By the river at the Little North Fork
Bleeding ulcers from beer and aspirin
Little Tommy drank no more.
Green Dan called the sheriff and coronor
Said, “Tommy Mortensen’s dead!”
When they came and examined the body
This is what the sheriff said:
“This person’s a female!”
“Say what?”
“That’s right!”
“Tommy Mortensen was a woman!”
This is the story of Little Tommy Mortensen
He was just one of the guys
If little mountain towns don’ ask no questions
Then nobody’s tellin’ no lies
Guess you want to hear the rest of the story
Well now, that’s fair enough
Everybody likes a little gossip
But this was just too much!
Tommy would of liked to have died a man
Only a handful knew the truth
But in the paper, the obituary
Read the news, he was Mary Ruth!
She once worked for the Forest Service
Back when women shoulda stayed at home
Scape-goated and accused of arson
She was shamed and all alone.
She changed her name when she left Sonora
Start a new life in Sis-ki-you
All the years that we all knew him
We never had a clue.
This is the story of Little Tommy Mortensen
He was just one of the guys
If little mountain towns don’ ask no questions
Then nobody’s tellin’ no lies
Cedar
Seeger, June 2003