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Who would be a poor man, a beggar-man, a thief
If he had a rich man in his hand?
And who would steal the candy
From a laughing baby's mouth
If he could take it from the money man
Cross-eyed Mary goes jumping in again
She signs no contract but she always plays the game
She dines in Hampstead village on expense accounted gruel
And the jack-knife barber, drops her off at school
Laughing in the playground, gets no kicks from little boys
Would rather make it with a letching grey
Or maybe her attention is drawn by Aqualung
Who watches through the railings as they play, hey
Cross-eyed Mary finds it hard to get along
She's a poor man's rich girl and she'll do it for a song
She's a rich man stealer but her favor's good and strong
She's the Robin Hood of Highgate, helps the poor man get along, hey
Laughing in the playground, gets no kicks from little boys
Would rather make it with a letching grey
Or maybe her attention is drawn by Aqualung
Who watches through the railings as they play, hey
Cross-eyed Mary goes jumping in again
She signs no contract but she always plays the game
She dines in Hampstead village on expense accounted gruel
And the jack-knife barber, drops her off at school, hey
Cross-eyed Mary
Oh Mary, oh cross-eyed Mary
If he had a rich man in his hand?
And who would steal the candy
From a laughing baby's mouth
If he could take it from the money man
Cross-eyed Mary goes jumping in again
She signs no contract but she always plays the game
She dines in Hampstead village on expense accounted gruel
And the jack-knife barber, drops her off at school
Laughing in the playground, gets no kicks from little boys
Would rather make it with a letching grey
Or maybe her attention is drawn by Aqualung
Who watches through the railings as they play, hey
Cross-eyed Mary finds it hard to get along
She's a poor man's rich girl and she'll do it for a song
She's a rich man stealer but her favor's good and strong
She's the Robin Hood of Highgate, helps the poor man get along, hey
Laughing in the playground, gets no kicks from little boys
Would rather make it with a letching grey
Or maybe her attention is drawn by Aqualung
Who watches through the railings as they play, hey
Cross-eyed Mary goes jumping in again
She signs no contract but she always plays the game
She dines in Hampstead village on expense accounted gruel
And the jack-knife barber, drops her off at school, hey
Cross-eyed Mary
Oh Mary, oh cross-eyed Mary
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Mary is a teen prostitute with no future. Her pimps get rich off of her, and the poor homeless outcasts get cheap sex out of her. The fact that Anderson named her "Mary" is, I think, not without meaning. In Catholic (and Church of England) tradition "Mary" is the Mother of the Church (John 19:27). So how do Christians treat "Mary" today? They buy her, sell her, use and abuse her! She's "cross-eyed" because the church has lost its focus. Whether we're talking about TV evangelists or Catholic churches... they often don't spend as much time PRACTICING Christianity as they do MAKING MONEY from SELLING "Mary". So I ask YOU, when are YOU going to really LOVE "Mary"?