Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time and author Jim Adams from A Unique Title For Me is our current guest host. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.
The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “Drifter/Loner/Transient/Vagabond.”
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A one-hit wonder is a musical artist who is successful with one hit song, but without a comparable subsequent hit. The term may also be applied to an artist who is remembered for only one hit despite other successes.
A barmaid in a busy seaport harbor town which serves “a hundred ships a day” is the subject of Brandy, a 1972 one-hit wonder by the group Looking Glass. Though lonely sailors flirt with her, she pines for the one who has long since left her because he claimed his life, his love, and his lady, was “the sea.”
The single reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts, remaining in the top position for one week. It reached number two on the former chart for four weeks, stuck behind Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Alone Again (Naturally), before reaching number one.
FUN FACT:
- Songwriter Elliot Lurie denies the song is about Mary Ellis (1750–1828), a spinster in New Brunswick, New Jersey. According to oral tradition, Mary was seduced by a sea captain who vowed to return to marry her. He never returned and she would come to the spot where her grave now stands, each day, to look for his ship in the Raritan River in New Brunswick.
- Barry Manilow’s 1974 Mandy was a cover of a song originally titled Brandy, released in February 1972 by Scott English; however, Manilow changed the title following the success of the Looking Glass single, so as not to get the two songs confused.
- Following the song’s release in 1972, Brandy increased in popularity as a girl’s name in the United States. According to data from the Social Security Administration, drawn from “Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States,” Brandy was the 353rd most popular name in 1971, 140th in 1972, and, in 1973 (the first full year after the song’s popularity), 82nd.
Enjoy!
See my Song Lyric Sunday selection for Nesie’s Place!
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Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.
Brandy
And it serves a hundred ships a day
Lonely sailors pass the time away
And talk about their homes
And she works layin’ whiskey down
They say, Brandy, fetch another round
She serves them whiskey and wine
“What a good wife you would be” (such a fine girl)
“Yeah, your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea”
Made of finest silver from the North of Spain
A locket that bears the name
Of the man that Brandy loved
Bringin’ gifts from far away
But he made it clear he couldn’t stay
No harbor was his home
“What a good wife you would be” (such a fine girl)
“But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea”
When he told his sailor stories
She could feel the ocean fall and rise
She saw its ragin’ glory
But he had always told the truth, Lord, he was an honest man
And Brandy does her best to understand
Brandy walks through a silent town
And loves a man who’s not around
She still can hear him say
“What a good wife you would be” (such a fine girl)
“But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea”
It is, yes it is
He said, “Brandy, you’re a fine girl” (you’re a fine girl)
“What a good wife you would be” (such a fine girl)
“But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea”
Felicia Denise, Author 
I used to live in in New Brunswick, New Jersey and I never knew about Mary Ellis, so I found your post fascinating. I just collected my rewards from my credit card and the girl that helped me was Brandy. When we were done, I told her that she is a fine girl.
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Good ballad and I like his voice and the pauses he puts in the lines. Great choice, sailors certainly fit the nomadic lifestyle.
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Flash right back to summers on the lake with this song playing. Great times! Thanks for picking this one.
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Very good choice – I always liked this song. Kind of sad that the lady’s love had to leave and she pined after him for so many years. 🙂
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I don’t know anyone that doesn’t like this song.
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Agreed! 😊 Thanks for stopping by!
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I have heard of this song before, it is nice to listen to it again and learn about its background.
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Glad you enjoyed it! It’s a standard for my generation. Can’t talk about 70s music without mentioning “Brandy.” 😊
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