Tag: Mary Anne

Marshall reminds me of Nick Lowe a little because they make every song sound like a potential hit in a good way. It’s a kind of song that makes everything feel alright for three minutes. It’s one of those perfect power pop songs. 

He got his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway touring company of the musical Beatlemania between 1978-1980. Crenshaw said: “In the beginning, I was bothered by it, as an egotistical young person, maybe because I had just gotten out of Beatlemania, and I was sick of any kind of heavy association with some other figure.”

He later played Buddy Holly in La Bamba in 1987. “I’ve been a Buddy Holly fan all my life. The joy still comes across in his music. It’s really got its own je ne sais quoi. It really stands apart from a lot of ’50s rock, because it conveys a sense of intimacy. I think it’s because it was made in this little building on the side of a highway late at night with this isolated group of people.”

Marshall Crenshaw’s 1982 self-titled debut is a rare bird in the rock canon, a flawless record that never seems to age. On the album with the jangle of Someday, Someway and the Buddy Holly bop of Cynical Girl, Mary Anne is the track that quietly steals the show. That chorus. It just opens up like sunshine bursting through the clouds. “Mary Anne, you’re not alone,” Crenshaw assures her, and suddenly you’re not alone either. 

The arrangement is a masterclass in restraint. The chiming guitars are pure Rickenbacker, and the bassline has a McCartney-esque melody. No frills, no tricks, just three minutes of songcraft that feels like it could’ve been pulled from AM radio in 1966. In the endless search for a great pop song, Mary Anne is the kind of track that makes you stop searching for a while. 

Marshall Crenshaw peaked at #50 on the Billboard album charts in 1982. As the old phrase goes…it’s got more hooks than a tackle box.

Mary Anne

It isn’t such a crime
It isn’t such a shame
It happens all the time
You shouldn’t take the blame
Go on and have a laugh
Go have a laugh on me
Go on and have a laugh
At all your misery

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (don’t cry Mary Anne)
I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne
I’m thinking of you
Mary Anne, Mary Anne (don’t cry Mary Anne)
I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

You take a look around
And all you seem to see
Is bringing you down
As down as you can be
Go on and have a laugh
Go have a laugh on me
Go on and have a laugh
At how bad it can be

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (you’ll be all right)
I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne
I’m thinking of you
Mary Anne, Mary Anne (you’ll be all right)
I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (goodnight Mary Anne)
I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne
I’m thinking of you Mary Anne, Mary Anne (goodnight Mary Anne)
I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

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