Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, we present Looking Glass performing the 1972 chart-topper, "Brandy." The song is about a barmaid in a port town who pines for the return of her sailor beau. Central to the song is the symbol of their love — a locket that bears his name hanging from a braided chain "made of finest silver from the North of Spain."
Some rock historians believe the Brandy character in the song was inspired by the story of Mary Ellis, a spinster from New Brunswick, N.J., who fell in love with a sea captain in the late 1700s. Legend has it that he vowed to marry her but never returned. Every day she would ride to the banks of the Raritan River and wait for his ship. Eventually she purchased a piece of land that overlooked the river where she would continue to wait for the sea captain’s return until her death.
Interestingly, Looking Glass was formed by four Rutger University students — including lead vocalist Elliott Lurie — in 1969 in New Brunswick, N.J., about two miles from Ellis' grave. The site remains a popular historic site and music-lover destination despite its awkward location in the parking lot of a Loew's movie complex.
Please enjoy the classic video at the end of this post, and the lyrics are here if you'd like to sing along.
"Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)"
Written and composed by Elliot Lurie. Performed by Looking Glass.
There's a port... on a western bay
And it serves.. a hundred ships a day
Lonely sailors... pass the time away
And talk about their homes
And there's a girl... in this harbour town
And she works... laying whiskey down
They say, "Brandy, fetch another round"
She serves them whiskey and wine
The sailors say, "Brandy, you're a fine girl"
"What a good wife you would be"
"Yeah your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea"
Brandy... wears a braided chain
Made of finest silver from the North of Spain
A locket... that bears the name
Of the man that Brandy loves
He came... on a summer's day
Bringing gifts... from far away
But he made it clear... he couldn't stay
No harbour was his home
The sailor said, "Brandy, you're a fine girl"
"What a good wife you would be"
"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea"
Yeah, Brandy used to watch his eyes
When he told his sailor stories
She could feel the ocean fall and rise
She saw its raging glory
But he had always told the truth, lord, he was an honest man
And Brandy does her best to understand
At night... when the bars close down
Brandy walks through a silent town
And loves a man... who's not around
She still can hear him say
She hears him say, "Brandy, you're a fine girl"
"What a good wife you would be"
"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea"
"Brandy, you're a fine girl"
"What a good wife you would be"
"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea"
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