Eventually, several months after her death, John finds it within himself to play the song.

He has the song on a tape, but he's never been able to bring himself to play it, mainly because of the memories associated with it. They had gotten into a fight when they first started dating, and it was absolutely ugly. Actually, ugly was an understatement. After half an hour or more of screaming and yelling and crying, Mary had stormed out. He didn't see her for several days. It probably served him right, considering that he had been the one to start it, and he wouldn't budge from his position, even though he knew it was likely to upset her.

When he went to see her several days later, in order to offer a feeble apology, her dad, a little too gleefully, told John that his daughter wanted nothing to do with him. He ran into her at the small grocery store and attempted to apologize, although a part of him didn't really mean it yet, but she ignored him.

It lasted for a week, and he just gave up. It wasn't worth the fight. When he did decide to give up, he found the most appropriate song to play and just sat in his small house, by himself. Only Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary" kept him company. It wasn't the sort of song that he normally liked, but some impulse that he didn't understand told him to buy it. Later, the same impulse told him to play it on repeat. He fought that one for a bit. John could shrug and buy the tape easily. Impulse-buying wasn't something he did often, but he occasionally allowed himself that luxury. For some reason, playing the tape was a little harder for him to do.

The impulse eventually won out, as they had seemed to be doing a lot lately.

John was on his second beer and fifteenth or so listen to the song when he heard a knock on the door. Standing up, he made his way over to the door. When he swung open the door, Mary greeted him with a small smile. For a few seconds, the two of them stood in silence, except for the music. After a few seconds, he became acutely aware that the one-line chorus was playing. Mary merely smiled, the slow sort of smile that trigged the same reaction from him.

Because of that story, they played it at their wedding. The couple of confused looks that they received didn't matter. It meant something to both of them, so it deserved to be played.

John parks the Impala in a space outside of the motel that he and the boys were staying in. After a few seconds, he finds the tape. He tries not to fumble as he slides it in. After a moment's breath, he starts the tape. As Jimi Hendrix's voice filled the car, John finally allows himself to break down and truly mourn his wife.