Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Mary, carry your babe
Bound up tight like lips around a whimper
Your fingers over my face
Blind eyed Sampson driven to the temple
And night birds digging until dawn
Freedom hangs like heaven over everyone
Ain't nobody knows what the newborn holds
But his mama says he'll walk on water
And wander back home
Mary, carry your shame
Well past all those eyes across the avenue
Fish heads running from rain
You know I'll do anything you want me to
Lamp oil lovers may say
"Freedom hangs like heaven over everyone"
Ain't nobody knows what the newborn holds
But his papa's going to hide shaking gristle
And shaking like bone
Mary, carry my name
Hoof marks hacked up all I had to offer you
Looked all over this place
Lost your portrait lately when the winter blew
In like Herod and them
Freedom hangs like heaven over everyone
Anybody knows what the newborn holds
But a dollar says he'll lick that devil
And do it alone
Bound up tight like lips around a whimper
Your fingers over my face
Blind eyed Sampson driven to the temple
And night birds digging until dawn
Freedom hangs like heaven over everyone
Ain't nobody knows what the newborn holds
But his mama says he'll walk on water
And wander back home
Mary, carry your shame
Well past all those eyes across the avenue
Fish heads running from rain
You know I'll do anything you want me to
Lamp oil lovers may say
"Freedom hangs like heaven over everyone"
Ain't nobody knows what the newborn holds
But his papa's going to hide shaking gristle
And shaking like bone
Mary, carry my name
Hoof marks hacked up all I had to offer you
Looked all over this place
Lost your portrait lately when the winter blew
In like Herod and them
Freedom hangs like heaven over everyone
Anybody knows what the newborn holds
But a dollar says he'll lick that devil
And do it alone
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He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
I think the first and third verses are about Mary, Jeuss mother. The second verse sounds like it is about Mary Magdelene. He also references the ten virgins in that verse, with the "lamp oil lovers". "Mary, carry your shame" could be about the fact that it is implied she was a prositute.