Maria's Tale Lyrics

In the streets of Caracas where the sun always shines

March the 8th, two thousand and one

In the slum with a view of the haciendas

That's where Maria's sorry tale begun

Now Maria never knew the name of her dad

And her mum wasn't too kind to her too

She was sweeping the streets where she begged for change

As a ten year old who'd just left her school

But who cares?

She's just a child

Quite far away

So far away

Now Maria's twelve, and it's March the 8th

The only day that she looks forward to

She takes a sip of rum from an open cup

And she sinks into the floor into the blue

She awakes in an alley with a gun to her chin

And three tattooed men shouting "cut it out"

And they take their turns in a crime so immoral

A rape that I can't bear to sing about

But who cares?

She drank that night

Did she say no?

Did she say no

Now Maria's sixteen in a dingy caravan

That's going many miles north and west

And she lands in San Antonio with a flicker of hope

And a five digit debt on her chest

There is no easy path between dreams and happiness

Especially in the land of the free

But sex always sells, so Maria made her money

In a house for men who'd fork up a fee

But who cares

She's getting paid

More than I am

More than I am

Now Maria's eighteen, she's a veteran at her craft

And a client comes knocking up her door

She has never been so frightened, though she's been to hell and back

Next to the man from six years before

Now inside her room, he hands her the bills

And she pulls out a pistol from the drawer

Her instinct so quick, as two shots fill the room

And now that bastard's sprawled out on the floor

But who cares?

That bastard's dead

Her life goes on

Her life goes on

Now Maria feels so strong, and she breathes so calmly

She's never smiled when no one's around

She takes off his pants to find more money

And his tattoos are nowhere to be found

Her ecstasy is gone, and she's scared once again

And she's not a criminal at heart

She throws the stranger's corpse in a bag of rubbish

And dumps it where the dogs take things apart

But who cares

Oh do I care

It's not safe here

It's not safe here

Now Maria was good at many different things

But being an outlaw she was not

The cops they found her past two days of fleeing

And left her in a cell to cry and rot

The judge had no pity on a brown skinned refugee

And to prove that her kind should not come

Maria said a prayer on her electric chair

Before she met her end at twenty one

But who cares

My life goes on

And so does yours

Unless you knew her

Well, now you do

Well, now you do

Oh, now you do