Song Lyrics

I put on my finest summer dress,
So light and thin, it was my best.
I brushed my hair, I held my breath.
I went out to face the wilderness.
I went out to face the wilderness.

The men in hats.
The boys on bikes.
The perfect girls.
The baby dikes.
The superstars, blighted ones.
I went out to face them, one by one.
I went out to face them. One by one.

I said "Goodbye, Mary-anne!"
As you turn to watch me.
"Don't cry, Mary-anne.
And don't try to stop me."

"Cause I'm gonna go where the lights are bright;
Where sacred secrets sail like kites.
We've been sleepin' girl, all our lives,
And we never lived, no, we just survived.
And we never lived. We just survived."

I'll take my heart. I'll take my key.
And find out who could care for me.
Are there pots of gold?
Are there floods and fires?
Are there thieves and beggars,
Or Saints and liars?

Are there thieves and beggars,
Or saints and liars?

And so "Goodbye, Mary-anne!"
As you turn to watch me.
"Don't cry, Mary-anne.
And don't try to stop me."

I put on my finest summer dress,
So light and thin, torn at the chest.
I brushed my hair, I held my breath.
I went out to face the wilderness.
I went out to face the wilderness.

Mary-anne.

Mary-anne, don't cry.

Mary-anne!

John Leventhal, Shawn Colvin

The duration of Summer Dress is 4:21 minutes and seconds.