2025 Competition Entry:
MARY ELLIS by Tommy Rattigan
- Submitted:
- No Comments
Genre
Pop
Artist
Website
Co-writer(s)
no
Performer(s)
Session Singer.
Description
A decorator in my very early 20’s I worked at a Care Home for the elderly. almost every day when I came to work, I would see one particular lady always sitting and looking out from her window. She seemed so lost in her thoughts. As an inquisitive being, when I saw her sitting downstairs alone, I plucked the nerve up to ask her what it was she was thinking when she sat by her window. “It’s my viewing box on the world.’ she told me. Over the months I got to know Mary very well and she told me about her wonderful life. How she worked on the Cunard cruise liner Queen Anne and then the SS United States, where she became friends with Marilyn Monroe, who had introduced her to so many top people. She had the most remarkable blue eyes, and I had once quipped to her, how she probably had the pick of any suitor. She became serious and told me, there had only ever been one love in her life, her husband who, as a fighter pilot in WW2, never came home. And how she had remained faithful to him and their memories. I realised this lady was so extra special-well to me she was! I recall coming into work one morning and finding the atmosphere rather silent, and having received a few sad looks from some of the staff, I got the dreaded news that Mary was gone. I suppose in some selfish way I was sad, but in reality I knew Mary was finally wrapped in the arms of her one true love. This song was originally the poem I wrote in her memory. I added to music at a much later stage. And that’s about it.
Bio
Lyrics
MARY ELLIS
She sits watching from her window space
From her viewing box she can see the whole human race
Without a care they pass on by. No-one sees or hears her cries
She sits watching the world go by. She feels so lonely
Like falling tears, it begins to rain. Pitter-patter on the windowpane
Birthday greeting will soon be here. She sees the postman drawing near-
he doesn’t stop but passes by
She feels so lonely.
Dissipating memories lost to time. Loneliness-like mountains are hard to climb
What’s the use when life can’t be the same. Her only dream – to be together again
To sit and watch the world going by.
She feels so lonely
Frail reflections stare back from the past. Tomorrow’s dreams are in the past.
With trebling lips, she calls his name. Life for her is just a waiting game.
To sit and watch the world go by. She feels so lonely
Like falling tears, it begins to rain. Pitter-patter on the windowpane
Birthday greeting will soon be here. She sees the postman drawing near-
he doesn’t stop but passes by. She feels so lonely.
Once more the evening ends the day. A heavy sigh, she puts the photos away.
The only record of her past. Her eyes now close, she sleeps at last
To the sounds of the world passing by. She feels so lonely.
As the dawn begins to break. Mary Ellis-feel the touch and slowly awakes
Through misty eyes she sees his face. A tearful sigh, the warm embrace.
And the sounds of the world pass them by. She doesn’t feel lonely now.
She doesn’t feel so lonely.
©Music and Lyrics Tommy Rattigan
She sits watching from her window space
From her viewing box she can see the whole human race
Without a care they pass on by. No-one sees or hears her cries
She sits watching the world go by. She feels so lonely
Like falling tears, it begins to rain. Pitter-patter on the windowpane
Birthday greeting will soon be here. She sees the postman drawing near-
he doesn’t stop but passes by
She feels so lonely.
Dissipating memories lost to time. Loneliness-like mountains are hard to climb
What’s the use when life can’t be the same. Her only dream – to be together again
To sit and watch the world going by.
She feels so lonely
Frail reflections stare back from the past. Tomorrow’s dreams are in the past.
With trebling lips, she calls his name. Life for her is just a waiting game.
To sit and watch the world go by. She feels so lonely
Like falling tears, it begins to rain. Pitter-patter on the windowpane
Birthday greeting will soon be here. She sees the postman drawing near-
he doesn’t stop but passes by. She feels so lonely.
Once more the evening ends the day. A heavy sigh, she puts the photos away.
The only record of her past. Her eyes now close, she sleeps at last
To the sounds of the world passing by. She feels so lonely.
As the dawn begins to break. Mary Ellis-feel the touch and slowly awakes
Through misty eyes she sees his face. A tearful sigh, the warm embrace.
And the sounds of the world pass them by. She doesn’t feel lonely now.
She doesn’t feel so lonely.
©Music and Lyrics Tommy Rattigan
Leave a comment