Mary's Tears

Daddy taught her how to shoot As soon as she could hold a spoon Her mama skipped town with the oil man But in the yard facing the alley Grew some Lillies of the Valley She'd give them water from a rusted oil can In a town no bigger than a postage stamp Miles from the next off-ramp The only thing to do is drink and fight Daddy lost his job, started getting mean Mary found work at the Dairy Queen Where the boys would come to tease her every night Mary's Tears cover the ground Lining every street in town Mary's Tears At seventeen, she settled down It seemed she'd never leave this town Frankie said he'd love her all his life But he spent most nights with Jim and Jack Living it up, shooting 'em back He'd stagger home and wail on his wife So Mary started saving cash 'Til she had a thousand in her stash Eyeing Daddy's shotgun on the wall When he came home after hours And trampled Mary's flowers She knew she had to answer Satan's call Mary's Tears cover the ground Lining every street in town Mary's Tears One Sunday, Frank slept off a drunk Quietly she packed her trunk Loaded two shells into that old gun At church the whole town congregated Mary killed the man she hated Buried him out back beneath that sun Well, you can call it right or wrong But Mary's Tears, they still grow strong People say she's down in Mexico And no one misses Frank too bad In fact, the neighbors were sort of glad Maybe it was just his time to go Mary's Tears cover the ground Cried so much, she almost drowned Mary's Tears Mary's Tears cover the ground Lining every street in town Mary's Tears