If you ain't got two kids by twenty-one
You're probably gonna die alone
Least that's what tradition told you
And it don't matter if you don't believe
Come Sunday morning, you best be there
In the front row, like you're s'posed to
Same hurt in every heart
Same trailer, different park
Mama's hooked on Mary Kay
Brother's hooked on Mary Jane
And daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We get bored, so we get married
And just like dust, we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go
Where it stops, nobody knows
And it ain't slowin' down
This merry go 'round
We think the first time's good enough
So we hold on to high school love
Say we won't end up like our parents
Tiny little boxes in a row
Ain't what you want, it's what you know
Just happy in the shoes you're wearin'
Same checks we're always cashin'
To buy a little more distraction
Cause mama's hooked on Mary Kay
Brother's hooked on Mary Jane
And daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We get bored, so we get married
And just like dust, we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go
Where it stops, nobody knows
And it ain't slowin' down
This merry go 'round
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We're so bored until we're buried
And just like dust, we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round
Merry go 'round
Jack and Jill went up the hill
Jack burned out on booze and pills
And Mary had a little lamb
Mary just don't give a damn no more
You're probably gonna die alone
Least that's what tradition told you
And it don't matter if you don't believe
Come Sunday morning, you best be there
In the front row, like you're s'posed to
Same hurt in every heart
Same trailer, different park
Mama's hooked on Mary Kay
Brother's hooked on Mary Jane
And daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We get bored, so we get married
And just like dust, we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go
Where it stops, nobody knows
And it ain't slowin' down
This merry go 'round
We think the first time's good enough
So we hold on to high school love
Say we won't end up like our parents
Tiny little boxes in a row
Ain't what you want, it's what you know
Just happy in the shoes you're wearin'
Same checks we're always cashin'
To buy a little more distraction
Cause mama's hooked on Mary Kay
Brother's hooked on Mary Jane
And daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We get bored, so we get married
And just like dust, we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go
Where it stops, nobody knows
And it ain't slowin' down
This merry go 'round
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We're so bored until we're buried
And just like dust, we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round
Merry go 'round
Jack and Jill went up the hill
Jack burned out on booze and pills
And Mary had a little lamb
Mary just don't give a damn no more
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Merry Go 'Round Lyrics as written by Joshua Shaun Osborne Kacey Musgraves
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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@Proteus' wife I really like how you tried to tear apart the song and instead just proved its point. The basis of these lyrics is to highlight how the South DOES suffer from these issues like many other places do, but in the South, it is very frequently buried under the idyllic dream and perception of a white picket fence, happy family, married with children, etc, when this isn't really the case at all. It's just a precedent and trope that we almost always see in country music, and her song is a subversion of that trope.