There’s Something About Mary: For the Sake of Mary

Richard Thompson: For the Sake of Mary

[purchase]

Richard Thompson presents a portrait of a man who has hit bottom. Awash in drugs and alcohol, he has lost everything. But now, a woman named Mary has come into his life, and he picks himself up. He dreams of providing for her, both emotionally and financially. However, this is a Richard Thompson song, so there can be know happy ending in matters of love. Mary seems to be drawn to wounded birds, but she has been burned before. So this is as close as Thompson ever gets to that happy ending: matters are left unsettled, but there is hope. The song, then, is not a story, but simply an expression of devotion from an unlikely source.