‘Mary’ was written by Adrianne Lenker in the home which inspired the sentiment of the lyrics. In an interview with NPR, Lenker spoke about the inspiration for the song.

She first played it on her… Read More [Intro]

Burn up with the water

The floods are on the plains

The planets in a rose

Who knows what they contain?

And my brain is like an orchestra

Playing on, insane

Will you love me like you loved me in the January rain?

[Verse 1]

Mom and Dad and violins

Somber country silence

The needle stopped the kicking

The clothes pins on the floor

And my heart is playing hide and seek

Wait and count to four

Will you love me like you loved me and I'll never ask for more

[Bridge]

What did you tell me Mary

When you were there so sweet and very

Full of field and stars

You carried all of time

Oh and, heavens, when you looked at me

Your eyes were like machinery

Your hands were making artifacts in the corner of my mind

[Chorus]

Monastery monochrome

Boom balloon machine and oh

Diamond rings and gutter bones

Marching up the mountain

With our aching planning, high and smiling

Cheap drink, dark and violent

Full of butterflies, the violent tenderness

The sweet asylum

The clay you find is fortified

We felt unfocused fade the line

The sugar rush, the constant hush

The pushing of the water gush

The marching band when April ran

May June bugs fly and

Push your gin Jacob

With the tired wiry brandy look

Here we go round, Mary

In your famous story book

[Verse 2]

We overcome the sirens

We look both left and right

And I can feel the numbness accompany my plight

And I know that someday soon I'll see you

But now you're out of sight

And you'll kiss me like you used to in the January night

[Bridge]

What did you tell me Mary

When you were there so sweet and very

Full of field and stars

You carried all of time

Oh and, heavens, when you looked at me

Your eyes were like machinery

Your hands were making artifacts in the corner of my mind

[Chorus]

Monastery monochrome

Boom balloon machine and oh

Diamond rings and gutter bones

Marching up the mountain

With our aching planning, high and smiling

Cheap drink, dark and violent

Full of butterflies, the violent tenderness

The sweet asylum

The clay you find is fortified

We felt unfocused fade the line

The sugar rush, the constant hush

The pushing of the water gush

The marching band when April ran

May June bugs fly and

Push your gin Jacob

With the tired wiry brandy look

Here we go round, Mary

In your famous story book