July 18, 2022 – Theme Week Day 1

We’re kicking off another theme week on the Wiki Corner! This week, the theme is Urban Legends in Music.
We’re starting with the song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”, the 1972 song by the band Looking Glass. There is an urban myth that the song is based on a real person named Mary Ellis, who was alive from 1750-1828. She was a spinster from New Brunswick, NJ (where Looking Glass formed), and according to local lore, she fell in love with a sea captain who promised to come back and marry her. However, he never returned, and Mary supposedly went to the same spot near the Raritan River every day to wait for his ship. When she passed away in 1878, she chose to be buried in that very spot near the river. Strangely enough, her grave now sits behind an AMC Theater.
Members of the band deny that their song is connected with the Mary Ellis legend. The writer of the song claims he wrote it about his high school girlfriend Randy, and it eventually morphed into a song about a fictional barmaid.
The song reached number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts, where it stayed in the top position for a week. The single was the band’s only million seller, and was certified gold in August 1972.
After the song was released in 1972, the name “Brandy” increased in popularity as a girls name. It jumped from being the 353rd most popular name in 1971 to 82nd in 1973!
Learn more here.