Hazard: The Song of Secrets and Suspicion

My mother has been the one to introduce singers and bands to me as a young girl, to educate me on the songs she loves.

When this song played in the car, my mother would tell me about the story of this song. About the young man that was the narrator of this song that couldn't catch a break.

It's a dark song to be introduced to as a child, the concept of losing someone you love, and then framed for that murder. That, no matter how hard it is to leave the pain of the past, it just keeps repeating.

The song is about a misunderstood young man telling his story of his upbringing and his downfall in the fictional town called Hazard.

There are multiple meanings and clever context clues in the lyrics-

Even then the folks in town said with prejudiced eyes, That boy's not right...

That has two different meanings from what I've gathered. That his troubles are carried from a reputation from a family drama, or if the young narrator suffered from a mental illness. It's not clear but it's left to our interpretation as the song continues.

First time that someone looked beyond the rumors and the lies

And saw the man inside.

He was the outcast that no one tried to understand. To hear his side of the story until a woman named Mary came along and cared for him. The two made a pact to leave this town and it looked like things were working out in a better life that he had deserved after a life of shunning and tragedy. But that wasn't the case. Life has that way of twisting that dream and changing it into a repeating nightmare.

The song has a shift change from reminiscing about the memory of Mary to a plea for his innocence and confusion. It goes from-

We used to walk down by the river

To

I swear I left her by the river

Because of the small town rumors from his beginnings in the town, with his mother's mysterious death, it didn't take long before he was found under suspicion again.

I need to make it to the river

And leave this old Nebraska town

It's a known, scarred truth. No matter how hard we try, the past comes to repeat itself.

Years later, I did some research on this song to see where this song made it on the charts, to see the inspiration behind this song, I wanted to know more about the creation of this song and to see if there was anything else that went unnoticed. I ended up finding out that there was a following to this story as well as the creative music video.

The music video expanded into the story of the song, having the idea like a murder mystery close to the plot of Twin Peaks. Wondering who killed Mary, and the question of what happened to the narrator's mother and her lover.

When my mother had to explain the music video to me, I had a plethora of naive questions like,

"Why did he cut his hair?"

She would answer: To be different

"Why did this young boy run away? Why is his house on fire?"

She would answer: I don't know that part, it could be an accident.

Like I said, the song had multiple meanings, and with the music video, there was an expansion to explore that story. The idea of a small town with the protagonist telling us that a small town doesn't forget or forgive. How the judgement and suspicion was always in his direction without evidence just from a soiled reputation that wasn't his fault.

The story of Hazard is one that still resonates in me for the problems I have faced with an accusation and a false story from the onlookers that chose to believe the lie over the truth. Choosing not to know who the real person was, and what the hardships happened from the shame in the rumors.

It's a song that was a story on it's own of a small Nebraska town, I still find myself moved by the soft and solemn vocals of Richard Marx. The echo of the choir from the beginning of the song, giving off the vibe that something is mysterious and amiss for a reason. I'll find out even though the ambiance already reveals that this won't have a happy ending.

This is one of the underrated gems from Richard Marx, one of which I wish would have more recognition. As the song approaches the thirtieth anniversary, as some songs reach a resurgence in nostalgic popularity, I would hope that this song can have that second revival to share in a society that would appreciate a song like this.