- Mary Queen of Arkansas
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"Mary Queen of Arkansas" Song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Released January 5, 1973 Recorded 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York Genre Rock Length 5:20 Label Columbia Records Writer Bruce Springsteen Producer Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. track listing "Growin' Up"
(2)"Mary Queen of Arkansas"
(3)"Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?"
(4)"Mary Queen of Arkansas" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., released in 1973. Springsteen played "Mary Queen of Arkansas" at his audition for John H. Hammond at CBS Records, who signed him to his first record contract on May 2, 1972, although Hammond was less impressed with this song than with "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" or with "Growin' Up".[1][2] The day after signing the contract, Springsteen recorded "Mary Queen of Arkansas" as part of a 12 song demo for Hammond.[1][2] The demo version of the song was released on Tracks in 1998.[3]
Themes
The song is one of the slower tracks on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., played on acoustic guitar, and the lyrics of the song may be about a drag queen.[1][4] The lyrics are dense and reminiscent of Bob Dylan.[1][4][5] "Mary Queen Of Arkansas" is a slow, quiet acoustic song with a faint country feel to it. The lyrics contain repeated references to the circus (a theme explored in deeper depth on his The Wild, the Innocent & the E-Street Shuffle) as in "Well I'm just a lonely acrobat, this live wire, she's my trade" and "The big top is for dreamers, we can take the circus all the way to the border." It is a love song, devoted to "Mary." Like most of Springsteen's songs, particularly the first album, the lyrics are evocative though not detailed. The song appears to be sung in the first person, by a slave in the antebellum American south, to his white mistress, with whom he is having a clandestine affair.
References
- ^ a b c d Rob Kirkpatrick (2007). The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen. pp. 13–16. ISBN 0-275-98938-0.
- ^ a b "The Demo Sessions". http://brucebase.wikispaces.com/Demo+-+Studio+Sessions. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ "Tracks". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r381629. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- ^ a b Basham, P. (2005). The Pocket Essential Bruce Springsteen. pp. 18–19. ISBN 1-903047-97-8.
- ^ Humphries, P. (1996). Bruce Springsteen. p. 5. ISBN 0-7119-5304-X.
External links
Categories:- 1973 songs
- Bruce Springsteen songs
- Songs written by Bruce Springsteen
- Songs produced by Mike Appel
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