Take a Letter, Maria

I think ‘brilliant’ is too strong a word. It’s poetic, but not inspiring or thought provoking.

Snappy tune I've always hummed along to!

On the brilliant-o-meter I've always thought the needle rests at "reasonably" for this one.

It accurately captures a life event which frequently really does take place, within a very listenable song. I've known quite a few guys who have been through this and responded in a similar way. In the song he's wondering what the hell it was all for, and turns in a hurry to someone who was there all along. Reasonably brilliant, for a pop song.

A tad cheesy, IMO.

Brilliant? don't know 'bout brilliant. I'se just a country boy.

Great song, tho

What year was this? (I tell below) I remember it from the '60's when I was a preteen. It's not quite "great" or "immortal" as some of the "huge" pop hits are, but it's very good, and I like it as much now as I did 40-odd years ago. The story is of course about divorce (a bigger deal back then, happening much more rarely than nowadays), but the song is definitely matter-of-fact about it (as nerdsRus wrote), especially as compared to another divorce song from that decade, Cher's dramatic "You Better Sit Down Kids." [link to lyrics] Cher's song is highly charged, with the chorus being a lot of quickly-sung orders to the children, some of them having to do with taking care of the parent's needs. Oddly, it's written and sung from the father's point of view (Cher sings "Your mother and I don't see eye to eye"), but it makes at least a little sense in that the song was written by her then-husband Sonny. This song ends ironically with a carnival-like sound.

"Take A Letter, Maria" has good stuff production-wise going for it. I can hear it easily in my head though it may have been months or a few years since I last heard it (I think I have this on one of the many 45's I've bought in the last decade). The intro and first verse are a little sparse with drums (woodblock for the backbeat, vs. snare in the chorus), bass and a fairly quiet acoustic guitar strumming the chords. The singer is just dead on on the notes, and pleasant to listen to. Then there are the horns in the chorus. After he sings:
"Take a letter, Maria"
the horns echo as if to answer:
Da-da-da-dat daaaaa
and on. It's well-done musically as well as lyrically.

"Maria" was a big hit in 1969, and apparently the singer's biggest hit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._B._Greaves

"You Better Sit Down Kids" was from a couple years earlier, 1967, and was apparently controversial for the time because of its content (I just barely remember the song, not the controversy):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Better_Sit_Down_Kids

[putting on writerly hat] Should I have been a music critic?

[exchanging it for shrink/counselor's hat, and taking a puff on a tobacco pipe] Did any of this bring up any feelings for anyone?

I think the song is decent. Not brilliant. It's a fun hummable song. I have trouble empathizing with the whiney SOB though.

Catchy, dunno about brilliant. I don't turn off the radio when it comes on, but I don't wish it was on endless repeat, you know? It's better than just decent, I like the tune and the lyrics aren't bad at all, but I'm not sure about brilliant.

So I said "or what".

i'd poll -- if only i knew what the *sigh* stood for.

Reasonably catchy tune with a slightly more insightful than usual story for a pop song, most of which seem to be about some horny jerk trying to get laid by lying to a girl about how much he loves her.