<P> "Delta Dawn" is a song written by former child rockabilly star Larry Collins and songwriter Alex Harvey, best known as a 1972 top ten country hit for Tanya Tucker and a number one hit for Helen Reddy in 1973 . </P> <P> The co-writer more often goes by the name Alexander Harvey today, not to be confused with Glaswegian rocker Alex Harvey . </P> <P> The title character is a faded former Southern belle from Brownsville, Tennessee who, at forty - one, is obsessed to unreason with the long - ago memory of a jilting suitor . The song's lyrics describe how the woman regularly "walks down town with a suitcase in her hand / looking for a mysterious dark haired man" who she says will be taking her "to his mansion in the sky". </P> <P> Reddy's recording in particular has choir - like inspirational overtones as well . </P>

What do the lyrics to delta dawn mean