Status
Elliott Smith Song
Alternate Title/Version
Written By
Elliott Smith
Recording Sessions
March - July 1996 (The Shop, Humboldt County, CA - Primary Either/Or Sessions)
Availability of Official Release
New Moon
Lyrics
Pretty Mary K walks along the dock with some sailor’s pay shoved down in her sock.
Pretty Mary K with some little boy in blue who can’t stay away from you.
Pretty Mary K took him back to town. I’m down here by the bay where the water pounds,
Up against the wall, crying black and blue-it keeps me away from you.
Pretty words that you whisper, maybe I misunderstood.
Somebody’s not paying attention what they promise, and their word isn’t good.
Oh, Mary K, I can see your face down there in the waves, painted and erased.
But I know it’s just the reflection of the moon, a big fake resembling you.
I’m gonna go down in the water, fill my mouth up full of sand.
I’ll be waiting, still impatient with my dead imagination while you’re with some other man.
Pretty Mary K’s off in somebody’s room. I’m down here by the bay with my arm around the moon.
But I’ll be with you soon, just as soon as I’ve paid-I’ll walk across the water with pretty Mary K-
Walk on the water, pretty Mary K.
First known live performance
No known live performances.
Notes
The song was reworked into “Everything’s Okay” during the Basement era. It shares the same themes as “Pretty Mary K” released on “Figure 8”, but it’s an entirely different song.
The official release features a drum track, while the unofficially circulating mix does not feature this drum track.
Audio