[Verse 1]
Polly was a girl not yet sixteen
I met her by the lake in the fall
Our love unfurled like a warm, sick dream
It's a shame I had to go and waste it all
When we were together everything was alright
We shared everything we could share
Easy like a feather 'til that one midnight
When she hit me with that undermined spell and I couldn't let her go
For the challenge she would bear
My eyes were turning into rope
[Pre-Chorus]
I couldn't let her go
I couldn't let her stay
I buried pretty Polly in a poor, pathetic grave
[Chorus]
Now she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, laid
Oh, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, laid
[Verse 2]
Stranded in the deadly parking lot
No gas, no money, no law
Promised to a promise that I wouldn't get caught
But the dark star handed me a gun and I couldn't let her go
All the beauty up above I could never control
I couldn't let her go
[Pre-Chorus]
I couldn't let her go
I couldn't let her stay
I pressed pretty Polly in a poor, pathetic grave
[Chorus]
Now she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, laid
Oh, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, laid
[Bridge]
I couldn't let her go
I couldn't let her stay
I ran like hell
I ran away
I ran like hell
From the hell that I made
From the mouth of our beds
From the mouth of the bed
Poor pretty Polly
The roof and the prayin'
[Chorus]
Now she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, laid
Oh, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, laid
[Outro]
She laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid
She laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid
She laid, she laid, she laid, she laid, she laid
Pretty Polly was written by Cary Ann Hearst & Michael Trent & Traditional.
Shovels & Rope released Pretty Polly on Fri Apr 12 2019.
We thought it would be cool to make a song in the way that Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds reinterpreted [songs] like “Stagger Lee,” [and cover the songs in a way] that has your verses, but definitely stays within the story.
We just thought that the type of song that we went for with “Pretty Polly” isn...