Ballad of Mary-Anne

They look a little strained
Saying no-one kept in touch
And they ask me what I knew
And I tell them nothing much
All the faces all the same
Saying it was all so wrong,
And how everyone's ashamed
But we were just dumb and young.

' It's high time you knew
That none of it was true,
All those things they said about you,
Mary-Anne, Mary-Anne.
It's long past what's due,
They can't even look at you,
Cos they know they always knew, Mary-Anne.'

See how everyone is nice
See how everyone has grown
Now they wouldn't want to see
that stuff happen to their own.
Though they work hard to forget
All those bad times in the yard
There are some tell their regret,
For the days that grew too hard.

'It's high time you knew
That none of it was true,
All those things they said about you,
Mary-Anne, Mary-Anne.
It's long past what's due,
They can't even look at you,
Cos they know they always knew, Mary Anne.'

Now they cry the way you cried,
And their kids don't understand
Why sometimes they feel so strange
like a hand slipped in their hand,
When their children ask what's wrong,
Why they can't go to the park
To see lonely Mary Anne
Who still plays there after dark.

'It's high time you knew
That none of it was true,
All those things they said about you,
Mary-Anne, Mary-Anne.
It's long past what's due,
They can't even look at you,
Cos they know they always knew, Mary Anne.'