I was just out of the army, not a boy, not a man
Took the tours out in the jungle of the god damn land
And it scrambled something in my head
Left me shaking down inside
In a place no one can see
And it stripped me of my pride
I came home on a DC-10
Changed my clothes in an airport stall
Kept my head down low, they were spitting on us
Not answering the call
And I made my way to Florida
A greyhound bus to Pelican Bay
I met Mary in a diner on the coast of my last pay
Me and Mary watching birds die
Me and Mary at the end of the day
Watching birds die on Pelican Bay
We were married by justice
The justice of the peace
No family throwing rice
Just her and just me
And the only thing that mattered
In the whole damn world
Was the hand that I held
And my trust in that girl
The baby came in April
And we named her so
And we counted up her fingers
And we counted up her toes
It surely was a miracle
And that bassinet from the Goodwill store
Just down the road
I never will forget
Me and Mary watching birds die
Me and Mary at the end of the day
Watching birds die on Pelican Bay
April went to college
Took a job way out of town
We don't talk much now
She's just got so much going on
Mary got real sick back in 92
And I begged those white coats
But there wasn't nothing they could do
Now I walk the beach
And carry a stick
Scratch her name in the sand
And I stand and watch the ocean
Come and take her back again
Me and Mary watching birds die
Me and Mary at the end of the day
Watching birds die on Pelican Bay
Watching birds die on Pelican Bay