Albert Hammond (writer, recording artist): She was just a girl from Tucson/Arizona. She was just a hippie from there. You know, they came to Los Angeles like everybody else came to Los Angeles, looking to get somewhere. Mike and I never saw her again after we wrote these couple of songs: we wrote Mary hot lips Arizona, and we wrote Mary was an only child for her also. She didn't have a lot of money, she just had enough money to... she had a big heart, so whatever money she had, she just spent on her friends. "When the money ran low all the friends found excuses, the family soon fell apart. And you learn there's a limit to what you can do when your purse ain't as big as your heart. But still you're blasting off somewhere on something with somebody new, and nobody knows what he does, where he comes from, nobody, least of all you." It wasn't a person with a lot of money, but just a person who said "okay, I'll sell my place in Tucson/Arizona, and I'm gonna go and rent a place in California and take my friends with me 'cause I hate being alone". And so she took everything with her, like the stereo leads and the gin and... everything she could take. We never saw her again, but she did inspire us to write two beautiful songs, so wherever she is... Mary, lots of love! (Albert on the telephone with Reto, Copyright ?2002 by Reto)
Mary was an only child
Nobody held her, nobody smiled
She was born in a trailer, wretched and poor
And she shone like a gem in a five-and-dime store
Mary had no friends at all
Just famous faces pinned to the wall
All of them watched her, none of them saw
That she shone like a gem in a five-and-dime store
And if you watch the stars at night
And find them shining equally bright
You might have seen Jesus and not have known what you saw
Who would notice a gem in a five-and-dime store?
