Brandy, You're a Fine Girl

I have a playlist of songs mostly from the 70s that I love. It includes two songs back-to-back that are two of the saddest songs from the 70s: "Brandy" and "Wildfire." Let's talk about lovely Brandy.

Don't let the Jersey Shore frat-party pop sound fool you, "Brandy" is a tale of irony, impossible love, and loneliness. Brandy is a looker. She works in a local tavern in a busy harbor town. She's got beautiful eyes, and hundreds of visiting seamen a day are wooed by her charm. Brandy is so beautiful, any one of these sailors would make landfall permanently to be her man. But Brandy loves someone else...

One summer day a handsome, honorable, rugged sailor came to town and stole Brandy's heart. He fell for this fine girl, too. They had a short but magical time. She would stare into his eyes as he told her stories about his life on the sea, seducing her into lovemaking that was glorious and full of passion, yet laced with melancholy.

You see, Brandy knew she could not be with him. From the start he told her he would leave one day. She held out hope, sure, but she dreaded the day he would go. When the time came, they spent one final night together. He gave her a locket engraved with his name for her to remember him. Brandy cried as he held her in his arms, trying to understand how his true love was the sea.

And now every day late at night when the drunks are passed out on the street, she leaves the tavern at closing time. She survived another day of inebriated men who say they want her, need her, and pledge their devotion to her. As she walks silently through town, gently handling the locket around her neck, she can still hear the words from the one love she lost:

"Brandy, you're a fine girl... but my life, my lover, my lady is the sea..."