The Kelly Song Collective

Mary And Me

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A few years ago it wasn't a crime

To jig for a couple of cod

Then the word came down that the fishery's closing

They're killin us Mary by God

So up came the nets and the anchors

Piled like bones on the wharf

And the boats that once were our livelihood

Are dried up and rotting on shore

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Well I'm not so young that I can not recall

That we were betrayed once before

We packed up our families our homes and our lives

And headed them down to the shore

Across the bay went our children

And some with their houses in tow

Leaving behind some four hundred years

But Joey's too stupid to know

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That these waters have long been my home

And our lives have come from the sea

I hope and I pray there'll be better times

For my family for Mary and me

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Now as I row past the lighthouse

With a jigger and line at my feet

I am proud and I am justified

I can still take my cod from the sea

I know that I'm breakin the law

It's a law that I cannot obey

I'm a fisherman born and raised me son

They can not take that away

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Here as I stand above sailor Jack's hill

And think how I loved this town

They're still playin ball and I can not believe

Cause nobody's stayin around

Where will we be in a decade?

My choice it isn't to be

Our kids have all gone to Toronto

But we are folk of the sea

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© Michael Worthington Music 1994

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