She owned a hotel on the Jersey shore She made her living sending sailors door to door He was the small one with a crooked smile Oh, he made her eyes light up like the heavens on the Fourth of July
She ran the numbers... They say she ran 'em clean Those porcelain hands could keep a ledger even in her sleep While he worked the Seabees in the Philippines They say she made more money than you or I will ever see
(chorus) Love was an anchor on the Jersey shore If you were looking for love, boys, you could've found it in forty four 'Cuz love wore a halo... back before the war When the men loved the women and the women knew what men were for It was in the winter when he came home He had to hold those porcelain hands just to keep her warm So they had a daughter... they named her Stephanie Anne Hey, they sent her off to Vassar to find herself a family man
(repeat chorus)
Now, she sold the hotel... it belongs to me I watch those sailors come and go like the waves in the sea I've hung their portraits in the honeymoon suite I hear they're fishin' their lives away in the Florida Keys