Kris Delmhorst - Mary Lou Lyrics

A little girl walked out one day and said woe is me

Things just aren't the way I thought they'd be

So please don't make me turn 30, don't make me turn 16

If the rest of life is anything like what I've seen



Cause I know that I'm a goner and I know it won't be long

Cause I see on every billboard they tell me I'm all wrong

They say you're taking too much time girl, you take up too much space

You better stake yourself a claim before you lose that face



But I see you and you're different and to me you look so free,

You live your life the way you think it ought to be

And your body's not a prison or a weapon or a curse

You say "I'm gonna love each passing year for better or worse" for good or worse



When I grow up I want to be like you, marylou

When I grow up I want to be like you

I want to be a wise woman and a little girl too

When I grow up I want to be like marylou



The little girl said they tell me, "boys will be boys,

You gotta let them take the wheel and let them make the noise,

You gotta let them keep believing you're underneath their thumb

Cause they won't cause you so much trouble if you learn to play dumb."



But I see you and you're smiling, living on your own

Your paintbrush and your poems and you'll never be alone

You've got work to sustain you, you've got friends to hold your hands

You say "life is just as beautiful as I think I can stand"



When I grow up I want to be like you, marylou

When I grow up I want to be like you

I want to do the things that people just don't do

When I grow up I want to be like marylou



A little girl said well tell me, can this be,

Can the world be asking so much of me?

To give up my own body, my dreams and my name,

To give my hands to carrying the whole world's shame?



But you're not your father's keeper, you're not your mother's pain,

You're not your brother's anger or your sister's rain,

You're not your lover's chew toy and you're not the world's excuse,

You say "my life just got so beautiful the day I turned it loose"



When I grow up I want to be like you, marylou

When I grow up I want to be like you

I want to be a wise wise woman, want to be a little girl too

When I grow up I want to be like marylou