Merry Go ’Round Lyrics
If you ain't got two kids by twenty-one
You're probably gonna die alone
At least that's what tradition told you
And it don't matter if you don't believe
Come Sunday morning you best be
There in the front row, like you're s'posed to
[Pre-Chorus 1]
Same hurt in every heart
Same trailer, different park
[Chorus]
Mama's hooked on Mary Kay
Brother's hooked on Mary Jane
And Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We get bored so we get married
And just like dust, we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round
And 'round and 'round we go
Where it stops, nobody knows
And it ain't slowin' down
This merry go 'round
[Verse 2]
We think the first time's good enough
So we hold on to high school love
Say we won't end up like our parents
Tiny little boxes in a row
Ain't what you want, it's what you know
Just happy in the shoes you're wearin'
Same checks we're always cashin'
To buy a little more distraction
[Chorus]
'Cause Mama's hooked on Mary Kay
Brother's hooked on Mary Jane
And Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We get bored so we get married
And just like dust, we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round
And 'round and 'round we go
Where it stops, nobody knows
And it ain't slowin' down
This merry go 'round
[Instrumental Break]
[Chorus]
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
We're so bored until we're buried
And just like dust we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round
Merry go 'round
About
“Merry Go ‘Round” was the first single off Same Trailer Different Park, and arguably the most popular track on the album. Although it only reached #14 on Hot Country Songs, it won Kacey a Grammy for “Best Country Song”.
According to Kacey Musgraves, this just had to be the first single on the album, as it was the song most fans related to the most.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
I really fought for my first single, which was ‘Merry Go Round’, saying, ‘I’m willing to go down in flames for this song which you’re saying is not going to work. I just wouldn’t feel proud of myself if I altered this to try and sell more’. And I was actually met with the word-for-word response from a grown man, one that runs a company, saying, ‘Well, sometimes in this business, you’ve just got to do things that you’re not proud of’. And I said, ‘Well, that’s where you and me are very different’. I was appalled. So not heeding the warnings of this failure, I put out the song, and it’s still my highest charting single, and it ended up winning a Grammy for (country) song of the year. Little gold stars just reinforcing what I instinctively felt, that a woman’s perspective is important — but it’s even more important to have the courage and the opportunity to share it.
Via Variety
- 2.My House
- 3.Merry Go ’Round
- 4.Dandelion
- 6.I Miss You
- 7.Step Off
- 10.Stupid
- 12.It Is What It Is