They call me the wild rose, though my name was Eliza Day.
Why they call me this I do not know, for my name was Eliza Day.

From the first day I saw her, I knew she was the one,
She stared in my eyes and smiled.
Her lips were the colour of roses
That grow by the river, all bloody and wild.

Well he knocked on my door, and entered my home,
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace.
He'll be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped off the tears that ran down my face.                 

They call me the wild rose, though my name was Eliza Day.
Why they call me this I do not know, for my name was Eliza Day.

On the second day I brought her a flower
She's more beautiful than any woman I've seen
And I said Do you know where the wild roses grow?
So sweet and scarlet and free?

On the second day he brought me a single red rose
He said give me your loss and your sorrow
And I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed
If I show you the roses will you follow?         

They call me the wild rose, though my name was Eliza Day.
Why they call me this I do not know, for my name was Eliza Day.

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses, and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt down beside me with a rock in his fist         

On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
She lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said All beauty must die
And leant down beside her, planted a rose 'tween her teeth

They call me the wild rose, though my name was Eliza Day.
Why they call me this I do not know, for my name was Eliza Day.