Okay Men of Good Fortune, words and lyrics, Lou Reed ♪ My dear mother told me an old maid I'd be Unless men of good fortune came courtin' for me A doctor, a lawyer, a minister's bride But if not asked to marry your own, I would die An old maid, an old maid, an old maid I'd be Unless men of good fortune came courtin' for me ♪ When I was 14, she repeated again Unfaithful and ugly, are the ways of all men But a woman's no better than the last man she's known And if you don't marry, you'll die all alone An old maid, an old maid, an old maid, I'd be Unless men of good fortune came courtin' for me ♪ So, I learned how to cook, and I learned how to sew I made pretty red dresses with pretty red bows I learned how to smile, how to curtsy and spin And so this pure, for I was free from sin When I was 18, my mother, she died With her heart nearly broken as I was no man's bride But men of good fortune, they had not appeared Just town boys and drunkards who made me feel scared An old maid, an old maid, an old maid I'd be Unless men of good fortune came courtin' for me God willing, I know the time soon will arrive When a man of good fortune will stand by my side With fine carriage and manners for around me to see A man of good fortune has come to see me