black dont crack… mary aged well. nom
Okay, we all are in agreeance that we like Fat Luther and Sad Mary, I dont know too many people who would argue against this. I kinda quit keepin track of her tracks after Mary but I think its safe to say that this album was Sad Mary’s last hoorah. And while I’m extremely happy that she is happily married you gotta admit she quickly slid into the adult contemporary lane and her music lives next door to smooth jazz and gospel now. *THIS IS NOT A BAD THING* While it is boring we need the balance of music done for adults by adults, especially from an adult who comes from the ‘hip hop soul’ sound. I’ve since tuned her out for the most part but lemme know if she has done anything that has matched the cinematic 4 song set that closes out this album.
FEEL FREE TO CLICK THE LINKS AND LISTEN ALONG:
your child > no happy holidays > the love I never had > give me you
Your Child – A woman comes over and drops Leon’s baby at Mary’s doorstep. To be totally honest I’m not a fan of this song at all but being that No Happy Holidays starts with a line about a man who lies about being willing to leave his family for her. So for that reason alone it has to be the ‘intro’
No Happy Holidays – Mary closes the door and reflects on her relationship with Leon. This song is so gut wrenchingly beautiful and when she belts lines like ‘make her your wife’ and ‘your family has never met me and they never will’ it just makes you feel for her that much more. Add to the fact that the hook is fuckin awesome and the George Benson-esque guitar solo at the end murders it. I swear Mary scats ‘dead in the middle of little italy’ in tribute to Big Pun… haha
The Love I Never Had - Mary decides to dead the relationship with Leon and wails about fighting thru her feelings for him. Once again it oozes with emotion, halfway begging him not to go and the other half telling herself its best that she does. Sorta like that angry self realization you get when you figure out your emotions are out of your control. Its all there confusion, hurt and doubt but mainly a palpable angst. Musically you gotta love the tension and release that this song has from chorus to verse and was that a chuckle or a weep at the end? Regardless it ices this proverbial cake well.
Give Me You - The epic swirling ballad. Tell me this aint a sick ass ending. You don’t know if she decided to give it a shot or is just singin about wanting a ‘real love’ but I suspect that its the latter. This shit had to be a country song before she got it, anybody know if it was? It has that universal feel to it. Love the way the bridge breaks and song closes. KILLER.
This album is on some personal classic status for me. All that I can say and I’m in love are on eternal jam status. Even the remake of Let No Man Put Asunder goes HARD. Maybe its cus I secretly miss hip-house. haha… :/
*Not Enough has to be noted. It should have been chock full of antics with it being the K-Ci and Mary reunion song since the Lovin You (man that shit is AMAZING) The ’ballad’ even borrows a guitar lick from Tony Toni Tone I care but the rambley long ass drawn out intro is an instant turn off. The back n forth on the bridge is kinda awesome in that and the outro is hilarious, fucking hilarious
**i like rnb, alot. Bite me.
BONUS FOOTAGE: The Love I Never Had Live
just skip to the 3 minute mark and find out why Mary is the SHIT
i stopped buying mary’s shit after “my life.”
i never even heard this whole album, only the released singles. i liked “your child” but “give me you” was too adult contemporary for me, on some “better days” by diane reeves.
i just listened to “love i never had” and i am feeling it.
thanks!