The Story In The Song Richard Marx Hazard

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A moving, ambiguous song from 1982 about a boy who may or may not be a killer. The narrator appears to have mental health issues or at least appear to be different enough for the people of Hazard, Nebraska, to shun him and sometimes bully him. His only friend is a girl called Mary who joins him for walk by the town’s river bank and shares his longing to leave the town one day to follow some kind of dream future. Their friendship is shattered when Mary disappears. The narrator is arrested in a dawn raid, and denies all knowledge of any part in her disappearance. It is never stated whether or not he is telling the truth. He is left feeling trapped and with no future at all. The video adds extra layers. A scarf was found by the river and he is accused of strangling her with it. We don’t know if she was ever found, (alive or dead). The video shows her being stalked by the sheriff. Mary look like a younger version of the narrator’s mum. As a 7 year old boy the narrator is seen escaping from a burning house. Who started the fire? Him? Later, his new trailer park home is burnt out by an angry mob after he is released from questioning, possibly for lack of evidence. He is seen walking out beyond the town boundaries, possibly escaping Hazard at last. Moving, clever and asking more questions than it answers. The song on Youtube Arthur Chappell