This song was written by singer Scott Reynolds when he was in the band 3 Car Pile-Up, making it technically a cover. Guitarist Stephen Egerton reportedly had a very hard time coming up with a guitar part that worked well with the single note melody that Reynolds originally wrote, which would become...
[Verse 1]
If you talk to Mary, please don't look at me
'Cause she's never seen me before
Don't call attention to the man outside of me
'Cause she can cut my head off with the blinking of her eye
[Pre-Chorus 1]
And I'm not supposed to be here, and I'm too young to die
See, she carries my confusion in the pocket of her jeans
Bouncing like a pinball in between extremes
[Chorus]
I'm not surprised, this happens all the time
And my hand lights her cigarette inside my mind
And she's never seen me before
[Verse 2]
So if you talk to Mary, please don't mention me
'Cause she's never seen me before
Just let me hide behind the smoke and pleasantries
'Cause I do my best work with the mannequin brigade
[Pre-Chorus 2]
I just peek around the statues spitting art and foreign trade
And she looks a hole right through me to a shadow on the wall
'Til I'm sick of my surroundings while I'm not here at all
[Chorus]
I'm not surprised, this happens all the time
And my hand lights her cigarette inside my mind
And she's never seen me before
[Bridge]
Warhol monotone, robotic talk
We're all so smart, we're so perceptive
But her mouth doesn't move except to smile
To be polite, to be receptive
She burns me with a glance, I look away
I'm safely cool, I'm so deceptive
I'd give my right arm for a different situation
I look around, I see everybody's watching me
I set myself up for this stupid situation
[Verse 1]
If you talk to Mary, please don't look at me
'Cause she's never seen me before
Don't call attention to the man outside of me
'Cause she can cut my head off with the blinking of her eye
[Pre-Chorus 1]
And I'm not supposed to be here, and I'm too young to die
See, she carries my confusion in the pocket of her jeans
Bouncing like a pinball in between extremes
[Chorus]
I'm not surprised, this happens all the time
And my hand lights her cigarette inside my mind
And she's never seen me before
Mary was written by Scott Reynolds.
Mary was produced by Bill Stevenson.