SONGWRITER’S ANATOMY CLASS: "Mary"
Does changing gender in a lyric make a song more emotional?
SONGWRITER’S ANATOMY CLASS—STUDIES IN SONG CRAFT: Today’s sample is “Mary” by Lee Vogt, a singer-songwriter and actor based in Oregon and California.
Stylistically he ranges from soft rock (a.k.a. yacht rock) to confessional singer-songwriter fare in line with Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Randy Newman, Nilsson, and John Stewart. Speaking as the producer of “Mary,” for me it recalls the quieter sides of Simon & Garfunkel, when their music was airplay-friendly, but drums and electric elements were mixed low so as not to intrude on the intimacy of their material.
The lyrics of “Mary” are about a man in grief after his mother died. His name was Gary, but Lee changed it to “Mary.” Initially Lee wrote “Mary” to impress a cute young lady, but the song took on a deeper meaning.
Losing a parent is a universal theme, but for “Mary” Lee created a more definite sense of place and reflection, inspired by subdued New England settings he grew up with. He said, “The song started on Woodvale Road at my parents’ home in Branford, Connecticut. Later I visited an empty church on a country road in New Hampshire. Some student friends of mine were in residence, putting together Tao Te Ching. That experience helped me to put closure on this song.”
Brian Wilson used to write songs with no build-up or prelude, going in cold and getting straight to the vocal point. “Mary” follows that example. Compositionally, the chord pattern does an artful modulation, followed by a descending pattern. This mirrors the emotions surviving the death of a loved one, when the bitterness of loss wrestles with the sweetness of life.
Personnel:
Lee Vogt—keyboards and all vocals
Johnny J. Blair—bass, keyboards, and production
Jim Helman—drums, drum programs, and mixing
Recorded 2017-18 at Hypercussion Studios in Berkeley, CA.
Discussion questions:
1) “Mary” may be a catchier title than “Gary,” but was Gary a guy who had trouble showing emotion? Does flipping the gender from male to female make the song more sympathetic?
2) Have you written a song about losing a loved one? How gut-wrenching was it? What kind of arrangement did you create? What emotions did you identify?
Please leave comments—I’d love to hear from you! JJB
SONGWRITER’S ANATOMY CLASS is a course in analyzing and appreciating the art of songwriting. The mission is to learn from and celebrate the accomplishment of creating a song, from raw idea to arrangement to production. If you’d like my review on a song, please send me a link. Cheers, JJB
#Mary #singer #songwriter #LeonardCohen #RandyNewman #Harry #Nilsson #JohnStewart #SimonandGarfunkel #Simon #Garfunkel #Gary #Connecticut #Woodvale #Road #Branford #church #empty #countryroad #NewHampshire #GiafuFeng #TaoTeChing #Jane #English #RogerHahn #LeeVogt #JohnnyJBlair