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The Kindness Of Strangers - Lyrics by Nick Cave


Lyrics
They found Mary Bellows cuffed to the bed

With a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
O poor Mary Bellows
She'd grown up hungry, she'd grown up poor

She left her home in Arkansas
O poor Mary Bellows
She wanted to see the deep blue sea

She travelled across Tennessee
O poor Mary Bellows
She met a man along the way

He introduced himself as Richard Slade
O poor Mary Bellows
Poor Mary thought that she might die

When she saw the ocean for the first time
O poor Mary Bellows
She checked into a cheap little place

Richard Slade carried in her old suitcase
O poor Mary Bellows "I'm a good girl, sir", she said to him
I couldn't possibly permit you in
O poor Mary Bellows
Slade tipped his hat and winked his eye

And turned away without goodbye
O poor Mary Bellows
She sat on her bed and thought of home

With the sea breeze whistling all alone
O poor Mary Bellows
In hope and loneliness she crossed the floor

And undid the latch on the front door
O poor Mary Bellows
They found her the next day cuffed to the bed
A rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
O poor Mary Bellows
So mothers keep your girls at home

Don't let them journey all alone

Tell them this world is full of danger

And to shun the company of strangers
O poor Mary Bellows
O poor Mary Bellows

Book: Reflection on the Important Things