Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Apologies for the up & down volume throughout this video.

Nitrate and Gin

A dancer from Kansas
Cherryvale born and bred
Dancing gave you opportunity
Your ticket to New York City

You met the juggling man
Found “The Street of Forgotten Men”
Dreams flickered on the silver screen
Seeped in nitrate and gin

A jazz baby moving with rhythm
Flowing lines with acting so sublime
A social celebrity in silk stockings
A Venus in evening gowns

Lost in a world of make believe
Choices made upon a whim
Going where boredom led
Not wanting to play their game

Speeding your way to Berlin
Leaving a beggar’s life behind
Fame and immortality waited
Lulu was your destiny

Returning to Hollywood full of hope
Only to find the marquee lights fading
Replaced by bit parts and empty promises
A lost girl imprisoned by Pandora’s Box

Shawn D. Standfast Copyright © 2019

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