Hazard

This song by itself is a simple tale of a man falsely accused of murder (unless you believe he's an unreliable narrator). But the two videos, I think, create a story that points to the sheriff as the killer.

The videos introduce four theories about Mary's death: Either she killed herself or was killed by Richard Marx's character, the sheriff, or her unknown lover.

We can rule out suicide. Mary didn't drown; she was strangled and dumped in the river. It would be easy to determine this on autopsy, which is why the scarf is presumed to be the murder weapon. (The sheriff brandishes the scarf and asks Richard, "How did you tie this around Miss Mary's neck?") It would be virtually impossible for someone to strangle herself with her own scarf! More importantly, we see Mary on the riverbank through the eyes of the killer as he approaches and she turns to scream. If she committed suicide, what's going on in these shots? Though the police department eventually rules the death a suicide, this seems like an easy out so they can close the case, not an evidence-based conclusion.

We can also rule out Mary's lover because if he murdered her, then the sheriff must've really been an innocent man just looking out for Mary. But if that was so, he should've arrested her lover as a prime suspect. After all, he saw her lover with her on the night of the murder. Instead, Richard seems to be the only one he's interested in, which is consistent with the idea that he's trying to frame him.

There's a second reason we can rule out Mary's lover, and it's the same reason we can ultimately rule out Richard: We see three shots of Mary through the killer's eyes as he bears down on her. Notice her expression when she turns to see who's there. She's startled, confused, and then terrified, opening her mouth to scream. If it was Richard or her lover who approached her, she would've looked relieved at first, maybe even glad. Her reaction indicates that the person she sees is someone she didn't expect and doesn't trust.

So who do we know Mary doesn't trust? The sheriff. We know he's been following her, and though you could argue that he's just suspicious of Richard and trying to protect her, a good cop doesn't keep people under surveillance with no plausible reason. When he drives by, Mary looks wary of him and even breaks into a run. That's not a normal way for a girl to react to a police officer unless he said or did something that made her uncomfortable.

When Mary is murdered, her body is found quickly ("next morning") and in an obvious place, a shallow river that she frequented, as if the killer wanted it to be found. Yet Richard makes no attempt to hide or flee and is surprised by the cops in his bed the next morning. The sheriff then tries his hardest to incriminate Richard until the other officers have to tell him to back off because there's no good evidence against him.

All of this suggests that the sheriff killed Mary and framed Richard. But what should we make of Richard's violent past then?

Clearly Young Richard was a troubled boy. The townsfolk said he was "not right," and the videos imply that he deliberately set fire to his house, killing his mother and her lover. But did Young Richard intend for them to die? It's extremely rare for a child under twelve to kill anyone, much less his own mom. But it's common for kids to act out aggressively to express frustration and get attention. It looks like this is the story in "Hazard." Young Richard acts out in anger, not thinking of the consequences, which prove fatal in this case. He cuts his hair in guilt and remorse as a way to shame himself and literally "cut ties" to his past.

If we assume Young Richard didn't want his mother dead and felt horrible about the fire he caused, it becomes much less likely that he'd want to kill Mary. After Mary dies, he cuts his hair again not because he's guilty of her murder but because he feels guilty. The circumstances are all too similar. Mary looks uncannily like his mother, her long-haired partner looks like his mother's lover, and he felt hurt and betrayed that Mary "replaced" him, just as he felt hurt and betrayed that his mother "replaced" his father. In his anger, he ran away and left Mary alone and vulnerable, and even though he knows he wasn't responsible for her death this time, he feels like his uncontrolled emotional response has once again killed the woman he loves.

There's no conflict in Richard's statements that Mary "went walking all alone" and that he "left her by that river…safe and sound." When he sees her for the last time, she and her lover are probably parked near the river. That's why Richard was walking there in the first place–he was hoping to run into her. And that's why the sheriff was hanging around–he was hoping to run into them. When Richard takes off, Mary apparently runs after him, picking up the scarf he tore off in his anger, which she's wearing when the killer finds her. The river must be close by because she walks down there to have a good cry. Richard, meanwhile, goes home to sulk in his trailer.

And so I rest my case: Mary was murdered but not by Richard or her lover. The sheriff done it! But the fact that this song and its music videos are still the subject of so much debate almost twenty years later is a testament to how masterful they are. Truly among the all-time great music videos!