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.
She lived on the curve of the road
In an old, tar-paper shack
On the south side of the town
On the wrong side of the tracks
Sometimes on the way into town we'd say
"Mama, can we stop and give her a ride"?
Sometimes we did
But her hands flew from her side
Wild eyed, crazy Mary
Down a long dirt road, past the Parson's place
That old blue car we used to race
Little country store
With a sign tacked to the side
Said 'No L-O-I-T-E-A-R-R-I-N-G Allowed'
Underneath that sign
Always congregated quite a crowd
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it
Pass it a, pass it around
One night thunder cracked
Mercy backed outside her window sill
Dreamed I was flying high above the trees
Over the hills
Looked down into the house of Mary
Bare bulb hung, newspaper-covered walls
And Mary rising above it all
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Next morning on the way into town
Saw some skid marks and followed them around
Over the curve, through the fields
Into the house of Mary
That what you fear the most
Could meet you halfway
That what you fear the most
Could meet you halfway
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle drink it down pass it, pass it around (pass it around)
Take a bottle drink it down pass it, pass it a, pass it around
Pass it a, pass it around
(Take a bottle drink it down pass it, pass it around) oh yeah
Pass it
(Around) pass it
Pass it, pass it (around, around, around)
Around
Around, around
Pass it around
In an old, tar-paper shack
On the south side of the town
On the wrong side of the tracks
Sometimes on the way into town we'd say
"Mama, can we stop and give her a ride"?
Sometimes we did
But her hands flew from her side
Wild eyed, crazy Mary
Down a long dirt road, past the Parson's place
That old blue car we used to race
Little country store
With a sign tacked to the side
Said 'No L-O-I-T-E-A-R-R-I-N-G Allowed'
Underneath that sign
Always congregated quite a crowd
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it
Pass it a, pass it around
One night thunder cracked
Mercy backed outside her window sill
Dreamed I was flying high above the trees
Over the hills
Looked down into the house of Mary
Bare bulb hung, newspaper-covered walls
And Mary rising above it all
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Next morning on the way into town
Saw some skid marks and followed them around
Over the curve, through the fields
Into the house of Mary
That what you fear the most
Could meet you halfway
That what you fear the most
Could meet you halfway
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle drink it down pass it, pass it around (pass it around)
Take a bottle drink it down pass it, pass it a, pass it around
Pass it a, pass it around
(Take a bottle drink it down pass it, pass it around) oh yeah
Pass it
(Around) pass it
Pass it, pass it (around, around, around)
Around
Around, around
Pass it around
Lyrics submitted by ShiverForMe, edited by stringray
Crazy Mary Lyrics as written by Victoria Ann Williams
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Mary was a drugged out drunken lady who was passing through life, wild and crazy and worthless, but the fear of becoming her gave meaning to this person.