Lyrics for Hazard as interpreted by angel_scn

Hazard Lyrics
My mother came to Hazard when I was just seven
Even then the folks in town said with prejudiced eyes
That boy's not right
Three years ago when I came to know Mary
First time that someone looked beyond the rumors and the lies
And saw the man inside
We used to walk down by the river
She loved to watch the sun go down
We used to walk along the river
And dream our way out of this town

No one understood what I felt for Mary
No one cared until the night she went out walking alone
And never came home
Man with a badge came knocking next morning
Here was I surrounded by a thousand fingers suddenly
Pointed right at me

I swear I left her by the river
I swear I left her safe and sound
I need to make it to the river
And leave this old Nebraska town

I think about my life gone by
How it's done me wrong
There's no escape for me this time
All of my rescues are gone, long gone

I swear I left her by the river
I swear I left her safe and sound
I need to make it to the river
And leave this old Nebraska town

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daddio
10-28-2004

Rated 0 
i just recalled this song from ages ago :D

it's good

kinda haunted me when i was little....the lyrics and filmclip

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avi
12-20-2004

Rated 0 
My all time favourite ...

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forsakenangel25
07-24-2005

Rated 0 
love this song reminds me of my mate stevie who use to play it everyday.its a very sad song if u listen properly.

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avi
01-15-2006

Rated 0 
yeah , I concur on this fact .It is a sad song ...lyrics is good. Seems that he migt be hurted in the past .That line is my favourite one"no one understood ...pointed right at me ".Really good.

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mamberso
01-18-2006

Rated +2 
Song obviously about the death of Mary under tragic, but blatant circumstances. The narrator indicates the prejudice against him, and that it seems to play into the fact that he is whom everyone suspects as Mary's killer. However, if you look closely at the last two line of the chorus, he seems to indicate contemplating suicide. Possibly due to a guilty conscience.

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xxasswipe
01-19-2006

Rated 0 
my english teacher let us listen to this song today. its definitely about a guy who just moved to Hazard and like what mamberso said, everyone's prejudiced against him and when he got to know Mary more and when she went missing, everyone blamed him.
awesome song, though!

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kexik
01-21-2006

Rated 0 
>>>>daddio

the video to this song used to haunt me as well!
though then i didn't really know what the song was about...

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bloodybitch
03-23-2006

Rated 0 
RM almost didn't even record this...he wrote it it the back of the tour bus. His wife insisted that he record it...da,n glad!

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1 Reply
linkinparker
04-24-2006

Rated 0 
this song is self explanitary.he needs to make it back to the river,and see the girl he cared so much for, final resting place and pay his respects.he didnt do it.he may have been a dodgey character and hung around with mary a lot.so ppl suspected him.she was the only 1 who understood him, he may have even loved her.

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antheazure7
07-28-2006

Rated 0 
He didnt kill her. He didnt!!! What would be the point in the song? Its to show how stupid small minded people are (I think)

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bekiwood11
08-15-2006

Rated 0 
I think that he maybe is a bit slow, And that people think hes killed her but that he cant remember if he did or not? But thats just what i get from the song...

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gsleith
08-16-2006

Rated 0 
The video explains the dodgey haircut though!

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kirotourmaline
10-30-2006

Rated 0 
I've never really understood what it was that made the townspeople "prejudiced" against the narrator in this song. He doesn't mention anything that would cause their odd closed-mindedness, and the mere fact of being an outsider surely wouldn't be enough. Anyone here got any idea what he's driving at?

And is there a real town called Hazard? I used to dream of it when I was smaller, but not like a nightmare-- just the exotic strangeness of having a town with such a name.

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justling
11-06-2006

Rated 0 
sounds like he's a 'bastard' moved into Hazard with his single mum. And the townsfolks are narrow minded people.
He's not right could be mild mental retardation.
And his first true friend who accepted him as he is was Mary...who unfortunately was found dead, either murdered or suicide and he was to blame because he was the last one seen with her.
The river and leaving part...could be contemplation of suicide, or just walking along the river to wherever it takes him to.
Poignant song.

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mylamai
12-18-2006

Rated 0 
I THINK THE SONG IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE YOU WONDER SUBJECTIVELY HOW MARY DIED. FROM WHAT I GATHER, THE NARRATOR MIGHT'VE KILLED MARY ON ACCIDENT & REPRESSED IT FROM HIS MEMORY, HARBORING NEEGATIVE FEELINGS THAT BUILT UP FROM TOWN'S PREJUDICES, HE BECAME A TICKING BOMB. DESCRIBED BY: "I THINK OF HOW MY LIFE GONE BY... NO ESCAPE FOR ME THIS TIME. ALL OF MY RESCUES ARE GONE." IT SOUNDS LIKE HE WAS SULKING IN SELF-PITY AND LOST HOPE. THAT RESULTED IN HIS TEMPER GETTING OUT OF HAND KILLING THE ONE HE LOVES. AND IS IN DENIAL OF WHAT HE HAS DONE. THINKS "HIS LIFE HAS DONE HIM WRONG" THATS LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY. AND IF "SHE WENT WALKING ALONE...NEVER CAME HOME " THEN HOW DID HE LEAVE HER BY HE RIVER?? C'MON, WHY ELSE WOULD HE BE SO ANXIOUS TO "...MAKE IT BACK TO THE RIVER". THAT'S THE ONLY WAY HE CAN CONFIRM HIS OWN SUSPICIONS THAT HE DID KILL HER AND LEAVE THAT "...OLD NEBRASKA TOWN."

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switchblade26
07-18-2007

Rated 0 
nah he didnt kill her, course not!!
the town people were prejudiced because i think he was quite a bad kid, a loner and ppl were scared of him. Shows him as a kid in the video and from what i understand, shows a flashback of him setting fire to things. In the video, theres the line from "mary" at the end, saying "people say i should be scared of you, but I'm not." I think the song implies that his love for her made him become a better person. Then she dies, he is blamed, and he is pushed over the edge.
Yes there is a town in Nebraska called Hazard.

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stevemessick
09-15-2007

Rated 0 
I never saw the video so i only have the song to go by - haunting music and lyrics - and a powerful voice - I agree that the town blamed him because he was a bit retarded - there was a Matlock episode where Don Swayze played a retarded person who was blamed for killing someone but he didn't do it - other shows and movies similar - i think if he was contemplating suicide that maybe it was just because the only one who ever accepted him was gone and he was alone again and couldn't take it. Powerful song in any case.

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1 Reply
80sfan
09-27-2007

Rated 0 
watch the Vid... the Sherrif done it !!! It was 1992, and I was in love, with a girl AND this song x x x

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fuzmeister67
02-25-2008

Rated 0 
I watched an interesting interview of Richard Marx not long after this song was released in which he talked about his songwriting and the meanings of his songs. His belief is that there's not a single interpretation to the lyrics of his songs but that he wants everyone to draw their own meaning from them. Not all songwriters are like that and I think it's cool that he's that "free" with his songs.
I think of the character in the song HAZARD as being similar to the "slow" character in Of Mice And Men - not intentionally causing harm...but guilty nontheless. I left her "safe and sound"...and not breathing perhaps ??

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TheMan87
05-19-2008

Rated 0 
mamberso, you are definitely right now that I notice it. The last two lines of the chorus definitely seem to imply a suicide attempt. But he definitely did not murder Mary, he says he loved her endlessly (for lack of a better term). But the reason the townspeople are automatically pointing the finger at him is because in the beginning of the song he talks about moving to the town of Hazard when he was 7 and the people immediately drew the conclusion that not all of his dogs were barking. Also, he apparently, it seems, was the one who Mary spent all of her time with.

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TheMan87
05-19-2008

Rated 0 
hahaha looking at what i just wrote and what everyone else has written, it seems that this could turn into one big "whodunit" kinda case.

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BalisongAbraxas
05-22-2008

Rated 0 
Wow, I can't believe so many people here think that he killed her! It's extremely obvious from the lyrics that he didn't. He left her safe and sound by the river (he went home) and she went walking all alone (she stayed because she wanted to walk alone for a little while before heading home herself) and later on she was found dead. This guy is blamed by the townspeople because he has a bad past and/or the people just plain never liked him. I like the idea someone said of him being a bastard child, which explains why the town didn't like him even at age 7. As someone else also stated, what would be the point of the song if he had killed her?!? "People never trusted me, and then I met a nice girl and killed her. The end." e_e

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gsleith
07-07-2008

Rated +1 
The is a town called Hazard in Nebraska

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Klappa
08-14-2008

Rated 0 
Well this so does have its secrets!! its not all straight forward!! first line :my mother came to hazard when i was just 7! if u watch the film clip!! coming to hazard can mean she was Hurt or kill!! not she actually moved to the state! otherswise he would of said we moved to hazard! and from 7 yrs old he was accused of killing her!! and what makes me think he may of killed Mary is that fact and line where he says: No one cared until the night she went out walking alone and never came home! sayin that no-one cared makes her an easy target to kill and there will be no questions ask!! but its for u to analyse the lyrics and the film clip and make that desicion!!

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mattstfc
10-18-2008

Rated 0 
The mother of the boy came to hazard when he was 7, this indicates that the boy was not bought up with her, as it never stated he came to hazard at 7. He was possibly mixed up emotionally by his lack of stability within the family. There is nothing in this song which sugests the boy was retarded in anyway, he was probably just a mischievous child who needed a guiding hand to teach him right from wrong, the local opinion of him was very low due to his behavioural problems throughout his youth, this led to people mistrusting him. then when his girlfriend goes missing, people started to point the finger at him, accusing him of murdering her. The night she vanished, they were by the river together, then they went their separate ways and she was never seen alive again. I believe what someone sugested that he wanted to comit suicide in the river, probably to be with her as she was the only person he ever really felt close to and bonded with. Its a sad song really. But he never killed her.

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