Jethro Tull - Cross-Eyed Mary Lyrics






Who would be a poor man, a beggarman, 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

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 favour's good and strong:
She's the Robin Hood of Highgate
Helps the poor man get along

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

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

Cross-eyed Mary
Mary
Cross-eyed Mary





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Jethro Tull Cross-Eyed Mary Comments
  1. s.... a....

    Still great today, i remember i saw them in 1977 in NYC. Great music Great times

  2. i.... ....

    Spend Christmas Skiing with mixed pairs.

  3. S.... m....

    Way ahead of the time ..what was this 1971?

  4. B.... R....

    He is indeed a musical genius.
    A lot easier to appreciate now.

  5. B.... ....

    One of the best albums ever....Thanks fate for giving me the chance of seeing them in the late 80's....Forever grateful.....

  6. J.... R....

    scott he cleans up good
    a movie complete some would
    only douglas could

  7. J.... R....

    kristen takes a ride
    matthew traina on the side
    hells angels abide

  8. R.... A....

    FACT - Ron Burgundy taught Jethro Tull everything he knows about Fluting and more!

  9. J.... R....

    jody superstar
    naval ships traveling far
    verns cape cod sand bar

  10. V.... S....

    This band is a Ledgend!

  11. R.... S....

    Always loved the groove on this tune.

  12. E.... W....

    Goddamn this is good. Album should be up there with Zep 2 and Sabbath Sold our souls...Till gets no respect

  13. Z.... ....

    I've been searching for this song for 25 yrs. Glad I found it again. Love the opening. Like a dream.

  14. N.... ....

    It was sleazy for ‘71 but it rocks your butt off !

  15. K.... O....

    Mary, you just stay rught where u r. Love NOT NAZI FLAGS OVER THE GARDENS YOUR SON KILLED!

    K.... O....

    Peace molly. Hope youre feeling better! 😇👣👣👣👣👣

  16. J.... H....

    Cock eyed..

  17. 1.... ....

    Can anyone recommend some more music with that hardcore flute vibe?

    1.... ....

    Gil Scott Heron - The Revolution will not be televised. Kicks ass on eight different levels, flute being only one.

  18. A.... N....

    Goop master, that's who.

  19. S.... C....

    Sooo unusual at the time...loved them

  20. P.... P....

    Absolutely one of the best rock intros of all time, great back to back with Aqualung!

    P.... P....

    Yes, that’s right.

    P.... P....

    Paul Primiano And I just cannot get it loud enough; even though my ears are ringing, I need it Louder!

  21. M.... D....

    I have this t-shirt. 45 years old, 3 sizes too small and it is my favorite out of 40+ shirts.

  22. R.... M....

    Mary!!!

  23. T.... L....

    Wonder who are the 152 thumbs down votes are ? Only their hairdresser knows for sure !!

  24. J.... B....

    Merry Christmas

    J.... B....

    They'll attack you for saying that.
    Merry Christmas to you too !

  25. A.... B....

    THE best band ever. Been listening to Tull for 45 years and never tire of doing so

    A.... B....

    Fuck yeah good music lasts forever!

  26. y.... o....

    #LoDeck ft #BloodyMonks & #Boxguts brought me here

  27. C.... F....

    Anyone listening to this song “Cross-Eyed Mary” in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023??

    C.... F....

    Of course.

    C.... F....

    Long live the sounds of tull

    C.... F....

    Absolutely

    C.... F....

    Always!

    C.... F....

    Hi Craig, I'm 28, my dad loved Jethro Tull, I listen to cross eyed Mary, locomotive breath, and aqualung weekly.

  28. r.... m....

    Listening to this It's almost possible to believe that the jury that gave Tull the first Heavy Metal Grammy over Metallica weren't a bunch of out of touch old industry fools. Almost. Tull was never Metal...or any other genre. They are Tull. They can go hard when it suits the piece, but never as a ends in itself. Metallica got it later...and thanked Tull for not being in the running, lmao.

  29. S.... D....

    They dont make 'em like they used to!

  30. s.... j....

    The definition of awesome music. I was thinking of the intro, and recalled the name as a classic, and it certainly is !

  31. C.... A....

    Love it! The first time I heard this song many years ago I was blown away by Ian and his flute. Cross Eyed Mary is put together so well. The 70's produced some great music.

  32. T.... B....

    Still amazing after all these years...talent unmatched!

  33. C.... M....

    The piano is fantastic in this song. It's funny how a JT song starts out and ends up completely different. Like 2 different songs. 😄

    C.... M....

    Locomotive Breath best for that. Starts nice bluesy piano then boom

  34. J.... P....

    I'm probably the only 30 year old women in this neighborhood listening to this masterpiece ! They ain't about this life

  35. M.... W....

    Lyrics notwithstanding, the pure instrumental part of cross eyed mary is fantastic.BADASS.

  36. J.... B....

    Actually, I wanted the Crazy Train, But Wow, all this Stuff inside the Mirror was pretty nice. What if I took another mirror? Right here?

  37. c.... m....

    Breaking the waves

  38. B.... L....

    this reminds me of Jethro Tull

    B.... L....

    not funny

  39. c.... ....

    ❤️👍

    c.... ....

    very insightful comment thank you

  40. B.... P....

    This song is for the kids like me that never seem to fit into the school yard

    B.... P....

    actually its for child prostitutes but ok

    B.... P....

    @zzingping respect the message. Kid like 16 who wrote it.

    B.... P....

    Have you ever heard "Cross-Eyed Brian by Elton John?

    B.... P....

    @christopher yasus no

    B.... P....

    That was her opinion. You got yours2. Lata...

  41. R.... R....

    if you also like Jethro Tull, let me know what you think
    https://youtu.be/1VcIZXJECxA

  42. B.... G....

    Cross-Eyed Mary wasn't a bad sort. She did provide a valuable service to jackknife barber's and letching grey's.

    B.... G....

    yes sex

  43. k.... ....

    This intro of the flute reminds me of reading the book Peter and the Wolf when I was a kid before a children's booksaver came and ripped it out of my hands when I was reading it because my grandmother donated it to children 🤷🤦
    Anyway when I read it, I would get pictures of a snow covered old growth pine forest barren of any human intrusion

    And that flute intro would be a bird you could hear whistling a warning song to all the animals of the forest
    you could almost feel the bird fluttering from branch to branch trying to warn everything in the forest

    As a hungry wolf trotting it's way through the snow covered pines of the forest, while a rabbit hunkered under a snow laden pine branch, hoping it was concealed from the wolf

    The snow was deep and it would make it hard for the rabbit to escape

    You could feel the wolf on a deadline track straight at the rabbit but far enough away not to smell it or see it

    Meanwhile a duck flapped and quacked on a frozen pond to distract the wolf...what a brave duck trying to save the rabbit I always thought

    And the duck thought, if the wolf walked out on the ice of the pond it would fall through and die in the frozen emptiness freeing all the little animals to live their life without fear of the wolf

    But it was a long winter and the pond was hard and frozen thick unbeknownst to the ducks non-realization

    While you could feel a hunter just starting to enter the forest, hunting ducks

    I used to love that book

    And it made me hate the children's book club for ripping it out of my hands as I was reading it. 😵🤬

    It was like an animal's nightmare in the middle of nowhere

    Nothing saving innocence

    And evil was on its path

    Those pictures were so vivid in my mind that I had to read the book again to read the story

    And I don't ever remember the story, I just remember those pictures of the wolf and the hunter and the duck and the rabbit and the intensity of everything with the forest air electrified with all the energy

    Sometimes in my mind the wolf would head toward the duck quacking and then it would reach the pond where the duck was thinking it didn't have to go anywhere because the wolf would fall through and the wolf could read the thoughts of the duck while it slowly creeped across tje frozen pond toward the duck, getting closer and closer and closer
    And the duck not being fearful because it knew the water would crack under the wolf's weight

    Other times the wolf will be staying on the track towards the rabbit until its nose hit the branch where the rabbit was hoding and all there would be was a flurry of snow

    And other times the hunter walking into the forest would come close enough to where the duck would hear a crack of twigs under his boot and it would fly into a clearing where the hunter was walking with his shot filled blunderbust

    And other times the rabbit would narrowly escape the wolf and hit the same clearing where the hunter was standing

    While the wolf hunkered under a branch of snow laden pine hiding from the hunter

    I loved that story with fear and anticipation of the rabbit and duck being safe in their habitat well the wolf would eat pine cones and strawberries

    And the hunter would become vegan

    🤷

    k.... ....

    Wow... must be some good LSD going around.

  44. J.... R....

    jodys tending cow
    injun joe huckles pow wow
    lisa screams house now

  45. K.... P....

    Flute and Mellotron sounds perfectly.

  46. C.... M....

    so glad I grew up with Jethro Tull!

  47. S.... E....

    Fabulous Album wait to you meet her sister " black eyed Susan " 😋

  48. v.... v....

    Jethro tull should be in the rock n roll hall of fame

  49. S.... B....

    Don't give the R&R HF power or importance cause they are masonic controlled group all about spells , politics and controlling culture . Ignore em !
    Besides ,Tull's greatness is SELF EVIDENT and needs NO approval ,like any great band !

  50. D.... W....

    1971 - The barracks at Katterbach, Germany. Alpha Company, 1/37 Armor, 1st Armored Division. Reel to Reel tape.

  51. A.... ....

    This is metal. Change my mind.

    A.... ....

    Google the genre of this.

    A.... ....

    @Emmanuel Macron M E T A L

  52. s.... h....

    Sick as all FUCK!!!?.

  53. M.... W....

    Saw them in concert,cant really remember what year it was but then I saw most of the iconic bands in the seventies,best times of my life.

  54. E.... R....

    When this song kicks in...Soo bad ass!

  55. B.... C....

    The only album I have in 8 track, cassette , LP and digital remaster.

  56. C.... S....

    I've seen tull countless times and not one time did I see anything but perfection. Ian Anderson is the ultimate entertainer unbelievable flexibility defies gravity

  57. P.... ....

    Orzechon ty go zjesz ty go zjesz

  58. M.... ....

    Aqualung will effing exhaust you, and then they come right back and crush you with this beauty. This is amazing, STILL. I still can't believe that I had the good fortune to buy this and 13 other vinyl LPs back in '74 or so for $1.99 to Columbia House R&T Club. Good job of deconstructing this Episcopalian boy-o, by the time I log through side 2 of Aqualung. Still an AMAZING oeuvre for one platter.

  59. D.... K....

    Love the heavy bass!

  60. H.... ....

    mate the jazz flute

  61. k.... h....

    Enhän mä tiiä?

  62. R.... ....

    “Karma comes after everyone eventually. You can't get away with screwing people over your whole life, I don't care who you are. What goes around comes around. That's how it works. Sooner or later the universe will serve you the revenge that you deserve.” 🤔
    Jessica Brody, The Karma Club
    .
    .
    .
    .
    Will

    R.... ....

    Letching grey's know what they're in for... how is he getting screwed over? He likes school girls..I mean really he would be the one that should "know" better.. being an older man.. only an aqualung would think she deserves bad karma🙃

  63. T.... K....

    love this song :)

  64. C.... M....

    sounds like something from david bowie, intro especially

  65. M.... F....

    Ian is great, easily one of the best front men ever. Wanna hear some sick flute work..."Strange Way" outro by Firefall, incredible.

  66. T.... ....

    This is not on album but on CD and its not the same when the 2 are compared with side by side.

  67. N.... D....

    *Brasil®*
    2019

  68. J.... P....

    Still not in the Hall of Fame. Criminal.

    J.... P....

    They shot everything to get Grammy. But HOF is a joke.

    J.... P....

    John Pelletier The flute isn’t rock n roll.

    J.... P....

    IA would take induction in RRHF as an insult to his talent and genius.

    J.... P....

    WHAT?!?! but yeah most of the greats get in when its too late. Im just glad that every member of Cream still was alive when THE fathers of progressive rock finally got in. Rest in peace Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker 🤘👹❤

    J.... P....

    Yes, but Jethro Tull’s flute is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Rock History.

  69. T.... ....

    The girl in high school just asked me out.. .



    . ..but then I told her "I'd rather make‑it with a letching grey."

  70. V.... B....

    115 tone- death. F o o l s put this classic song down I would hate to listen to what they listen to

  71. G.... V....

    good musique and artist yep

  72. P.... A....

    In Remembers

  73. E.... B....

    ¿NINGUN LATINOAMERICANO POR ESTOS LADOS?¡¡¡¡ME VUELVO LOCO¡¡¡¡

  74. J.... P....

    The flute kicks it medieval minstrel style. Only the British can rock such an instrument so diminutive so larger than life. Beats cowbell. Now we need bagpipes in rock. Besides one acdc song

  75. M.... S....

    Good tune still blastin this in 2019..

    M.... S....

    Great tune

    M.... S....

    Lifetime.

    M.... S....

    My identical twin brother and I used to "Blast this" out when it first came out and sing to it, then head out for a dance. This music, locomotive breath, etc. got us in the spirit to go to a dance looking for adventure.

  76. c.... a....

    FOSSIL FUELS BUMPER CARS OVER POLLUTION POPULATION OF MUTHA EART THIS IS REALLY HELL!

  77. c.... a....

    I DO THI 4 MINORITIES WOMEN UND KINDER INFANTS ALL FEMALES KIDS ALL GODS R DEAD CORRUPT THEY JUST WANT MONEY TO ESCAPE TO OUTER SPACE COP KILLERS RULE!

  78. F.... G....

    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

  79. F.... G....

    And who would steal the candy
    From a laughing baby's mouth
    If he could take it from the money man

  80. C.... A....

    The ones prior to Irma run the ships sorta

  81. C.... A....

    Poundfoolish rooked ya

  82. C.... A....

    Pennywise FunHouse Carnivals played this and Aqualung.... When jackasses were oon my fav. Ride they threatened me on said i would be frightened the whole time ie. Car driving math class I'm in

  83. T.... ....

    What a bunch of incredibly sick bastards, making song of sexual perversion.

  84. J.... D....

    The R&R HOF will be a joke until Tull and ELP are inducted.

    J.... D....

    I respect ELP, burned a lot of trees in college to them, but I am still absolutely in awe of Ian and the band. Flawlessly interweaving a flute into rock arrangements? really?! Baby I'm amazed.

    J.... D....

    I have a feeling Ian views *NOT* being inducted as an honor. He's an iconoclast of the highest order... a musical maverick, who made his own rules, and danced to his own tune. I'm sure he could care less what a bunch of schmucks at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame thinks about his music..

  85. G.... G....

    The flute intro is the most wonderful thing I have ever heard.

    G.... G....

    @Travis I love the bass and drums together on this song.

    G.... G....

    Would you lika to h'ear Ian play some JAZZ FLUTE?!?

    G.... G....

    Lol nice

    G.... G....

    Gives me goose bumps. Sometimes I picture Ron Burgundy playing the intro.

    G.... G....

    @Harold D Burke he learned that Instrument like three months before first recording with it 😱😱😱🤘❤

  86. G.... B....

    ECCELLENTISSIMO Giampietro Boldrin OK JETHRO TULL MAA DOVE SIMO QUI..... 👍🤩✌️🇮🇪.

  87. J.... R....

    lauries hanes her way
    douglas please something to say
    chinas wet bing shway

  88. J.... R....

    kristen at the lake
    sister lisas toll house bake
    mister looneys rake

  89. L.... R....

    reminds me of boiled onions? I have no idea why? hahhahaaha

  90. l.... k....

    Reminds me of the old days selling flowers 🌸 and friends playing guitars and dancing and singing together

  91. S.... ....

    When I speak of the lights staying up what I am refering to are the house lights. In the early days the house lights were turned completly off. When they started leaving them on I was not happy.

  92. S.... ....

    That 2nd Alice Cooper thing,(1974), which cost me $12.00 & sucked was the final straw. I was done. I never went to another show. Till ZZ Top in 92 which sort of sucked. It was really sad to witness the downfall of rock & roll.

  93. S.... ....

    My first show was in '72. just saying. Saw a few through the yrs.

  94. S.... ....

    There was no ticket master. you just walked up to the window like a movie & copped a ticket. When the lights stayed up & the prices went up I was done. F them greedy bastiges. I saw ZZ Top in 92 for thr 6th time & that was it. I haven't been to a show since. F-em.

  95. S.... ....

    6 dollars got you on the floor.

  96. S.... ....

    I saw Tull before greed kicked in. 4 bucks got me in. 4 dollars.

  97. S.... ....

    We appreciate you younger folks who dig this shit.