I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
It was a fine day in the fifth grade
when mary may let bobby walk her home from school
he had her books in hand
and he was listening to every word she said
like it was the gospel of the prophecies
and he loved the way her hair fell across her dress
went home singing who wrote the book of love
and try a little tenderness
the next day on the playground
bobby sat mary down on the swingset behind the sandbox
and she said, "bobby i just wanna play,
so what is it you have to say?"
he said, "mary, marry me.
we could live out by the sea
like they do on the movie screen.
oh, marry me, mary may,
before you go back to play"
it was graduation day
they were waiting on a plane to take mary away
said, "theres nothing left for me here but you
bobby, i hope you can find yourself through
theres so much that i wish to know
and i have to do this on my own
and i hope you can understand
bobby, write me when you can"
he said, "take my highschool ring
so time to time now you can think of me
and there's just one more thing before you leave"
he said, "mary, marry me
we could live out by the sea
oh, like they do on the movie screens
oh, marry me, mary may,
before you are fly away"
theres so much time has past since that day
and mary stopped writing years ago
and bobby never took his music on the road
guess he never really gave up hope
though mary shes got everything she thought she wanted
got a phd, she is an independent business woman
climbin' up the corporate ladder
though it really dont seem to matter,
she is lonely beyond belief
so one day she went home
looking for the only love she'd ever known
she found him once again
playing circuit at the holiday inn
still singing the song about the one he lost long ago
just goes to show you never know
she took his hand in hers
not everything she had planned and rehearsed
she said, "bobby, marry me
we could live in a apartment building with the window hue
we could take in movies on the weekend
or plan our vacation
take a honeymoon by the sea
oh bobby, wont you just marry me?
wont you just marry me?
oh please, marry me"
it was a fine day in the fifth grade
mary may let bobby walk her home from school
when mary may let bobby walk her home from school
he had her books in hand
and he was listening to every word she said
like it was the gospel of the prophecies
and he loved the way her hair fell across her dress
went home singing who wrote the book of love
and try a little tenderness
the next day on the playground
bobby sat mary down on the swingset behind the sandbox
and she said, "bobby i just wanna play,
so what is it you have to say?"
he said, "mary, marry me.
we could live out by the sea
like they do on the movie screen.
oh, marry me, mary may,
before you go back to play"
it was graduation day
they were waiting on a plane to take mary away
said, "theres nothing left for me here but you
bobby, i hope you can find yourself through
theres so much that i wish to know
and i have to do this on my own
and i hope you can understand
bobby, write me when you can"
he said, "take my highschool ring
so time to time now you can think of me
and there's just one more thing before you leave"
he said, "mary, marry me
we could live out by the sea
oh, like they do on the movie screens
oh, marry me, mary may,
before you are fly away"
theres so much time has past since that day
and mary stopped writing years ago
and bobby never took his music on the road
guess he never really gave up hope
though mary shes got everything she thought she wanted
got a phd, she is an independent business woman
climbin' up the corporate ladder
though it really dont seem to matter,
she is lonely beyond belief
so one day she went home
looking for the only love she'd ever known
she found him once again
playing circuit at the holiday inn
still singing the song about the one he lost long ago
just goes to show you never know
she took his hand in hers
not everything she had planned and rehearsed
she said, "bobby, marry me
we could live in a apartment building with the window hue
we could take in movies on the weekend
or plan our vacation
take a honeymoon by the sea
oh bobby, wont you just marry me?
wont you just marry me?
oh please, marry me"
it was a fine day in the fifth grade
mary may let bobby walk her home from school
Lyrics submitted by deedex11
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The best thing about this song is how bobby consistently asks mary to marry him and they can "live out by the sea like they do on the movie screen." Instead at the end of the song, mary winds up asking bobby (stating obvious) in a backwards yet twisted way as to what bobby kept saying. "we could live in a apartment building with a window view, we could take in movies on the weekend or plan our vacation,take a honeymoon by the sea" Any correlation for other folks? instead of live by the sea.....honeymoon by the sea. Instead of live like they do on the movie screen.....take in movies on the weekends. That part puts a great spin on the song. Pure genius