Start up , ?73, . . . Budweiser route . . . Miami down through the keys
Flagler?s overseas highway was narrow and rough
No weight on the wheels . . . or side mirrors on the truck
She was born . . . in Cuba . . . just 90 miles away
Where every day is songless . . . and every color gray
She heard a place of freedom lie . . . just across the bay
So she strapped herself to a steel drum boat . . . drifted away
She landed at Bud & Mary?s . . . Isla Morada in the Keys
She got a job cleaning fish . . . as they came in from the sea
Fate would play matchmaker . . . when they crossed paths that day
He met the Cuban girl . . . putting cases of beer away
She knew a place of beauty . . . but in English couldn?t say to me
But he knew she sought . . . the square called Mallory
He said hang up your apron . . . tell Mary you?re coming with me
And we?ll watch the sun set together . . . in that western key
She ran ahead to the rail . . . the barrier to the sea
As the sun tucked itself away, she fell to her knees
She said a prayer to heaven . . . in words unknown to me
But I knew two words among them . . . Jesus and Mallory
Outro
For 9 years she rode beside me . . . up and down . . . these keys
From Marathon to Big Pine . . . they stretched an end to me
The seven mile bridge . . . was wide enough . . . that any now can cross
So Mallory and I we bought a shack . . . where we pretend . . . we?re . . . lost