It was the year of our father
Nineteen-hundred and seventy-six in JA
When I first met my Mary,
Quite contrary to what my mother did say
She was a mountain girl come to Spanish Town
I was only there for a while
But when I think back on all the love we shared
I just can't but help to smile
We spent one whole long year together
But at the end, I had to go
By my Mary's side, I wept and cried
I'd never been laid so low
She said, Boy, when you first met me
You were as green as a mango tree
But now you are a man, go back to your land
But first listen carefully
You can smoke two pounds of Cali herb by yourself
Then try to stand on your head
No matter how high you get
You'll never forget
The wonders of Mary's bed
Now my Mary's sweet smell was in my nose
And her vision, it robbed me blind
And as I crossed the sea, it occurred to me
That I left myself behind
She was my natural mystic
Sweet sugarplum I still ask, why did I go
They say your first love is your hardest love
And I'd have to say that's so
Now it's a day and another day
And a way and another way
Had a family once but they're gone
Now it don't strike me as weird
There's gray in my beard
And her words still linger on
You can smoke two pounds of Cali herb by yourself
Then try to stand on your head
No matter how high you get
You'll never forget
The wonders of Mary's bed
And now there's nothing for me left here
'Cept some broken dreams, disappointments I've had a few
But there's this place I know
Where the mangroves grow and there's just one thing left to do
I'll go back to my Mary's bed
Plant a kiss on her head and pretend that
Time just stood still
Then I can live out my life like it should have been
And the rest will be what it will
So I went back to the bar where we first met
Asked the bartender, where could she be
And as he poured me a beer
He said, last year
She left this world peacefully
Then every man in the bar looked at me
They said, old man don't you see
We were all touched by Mary, just like you
Now she lives on in our memories
And we all can smoke
Two pounds of Cali herb by ourselves
Then try to stand on our heads
No matter how high we get we'll never forget
The wonders of Mary's bed
And we can run
Two hundred miles through a ganja field until
All we see is red
And we can shout it out, were still thinking about
The wonders of Mary's bed
And so we sing
Jump around sweet Mary
You know we all have to move along
You never know what you've got
In this cruel world
Until you realize it's gone