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The Month of May is Dedicated to Mary and So is This Rate-A-Record
I barely got it done in time
May is celebrated as the month of Mary in the Catholic Church, so I naturally thought of doing a Rate-A-Record featuring a few of Bruce Springsteen’s songs with the name “Mary” either in the title or the lyrics. There are more options than you might expect at first, including “Mary Queen of Arkansas” from his debut album, “Mary’s Place” from The Rising album, and of course the Marys found in both “Thunder Road” and “The River.” Unlike many installments in this series, the hard part was not what to include but what had to be left out.
Then I remembered that I am currently annoyed with the King of New Jersey, as I recounted here (for an even better take than mine, check out this banger from ). That meant switching to “Mary” songs by other artists, which still left a lot to choose from with these immediately popping into my head: “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and “Hello Mary Lou” by Ricky Nelson. And though the name isn’t in the title, “Let It Be” by the Beatles may be the finest rock song ever written that mentions Mary.
As I was searching for even more examples, however, I happened to look up from my keyboard to see the statue of the Virgin Mary…
