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There's a port on a western bay
And it serves a hundred ships a day
Lonely sailors pass the time away
And talk about their homes
And there's a girl in this harbor town
And she works layin' whiskey down
They say. "Brandy, fetch another round"
She serves them whiskey and wine
The sailors say, "Brandy, you're a fine girl
(You're a fine girl)
What a good wife you would be
(Such a fine girl)
Yeah, your eyes
Could steal a sailor from the sea"
Brandy wears a braided chain
Made of finest silver from the north of Spain
A locket that bears the name
Of a man that Brandy loved
He came on a summer's day
Bringing gifts from far away
But he made it clear he couldn't stay
No harbor was his home
The sailor said, "Brandy, you're a fine girl
(You're a fine girl)
What a good wife you would be
(Such a fine girl)
But my life, my love and my lady is the sea"
Yeah, Brandy used to watch his eyes
When he told his sailor's story
She could feel the ocean fall and rise
She saw its raging glory
But he had always told the truth
Lord, he was an honest man
And Brandy does her best to understand
At night when the bars close down
Brandy walks through a silent town
And loves a man who's not around
She still can hear him say
She hears him say, "Brandy, you're a fine girl
(You're a fine girl)
What a good wife you would be
(Such a fine girl)
But my life, my love and my lady is the sea
It is, yes, it is"
He said, "Brandy, you're a fine girl
(You're a fine girl)
What a good wife you would be
(Such a fine girl)
But my life, my love and my lady is the sea
It is, it is, yes, it is"
And it serves a hundred ships a day
Lonely sailors pass the time away
And talk about their homes
And there's a girl in this harbor town
And she works layin' whiskey down
They say. "Brandy, fetch another round"
She serves them whiskey and wine
The sailors say, "Brandy, you're a fine girl
(You're a fine girl)
What a good wife you would be
(Such a fine girl)
Yeah, your eyes
Could steal a sailor from the sea"
Brandy wears a braided chain
Made of finest silver from the north of Spain
A locket that bears the name
Of a man that Brandy loved
He came on a summer's day
Bringing gifts from far away
But he made it clear he couldn't stay
No harbor was his home
The sailor said, "Brandy, you're a fine girl
(You're a fine girl)
What a good wife you would be
(Such a fine girl)
But my life, my love and my lady is the sea"
Yeah, Brandy used to watch his eyes
When he told his sailor's story
She could feel the ocean fall and rise
She saw its raging glory
But he had always told the truth
Lord, he was an honest man
And Brandy does her best to understand
At night when the bars close down
Brandy walks through a silent town
And loves a man who's not around
She still can hear him say
She hears him say, "Brandy, you're a fine girl
(You're a fine girl)
What a good wife you would be
(Such a fine girl)
But my life, my love and my lady is the sea
It is, yes, it is"
He said, "Brandy, you're a fine girl
(You're a fine girl)
What a good wife you would be
(Such a fine girl)
But my life, my love and my lady is the sea
It is, it is, yes, it is"
Lyrics submitted by dsfire, edited by janeaparis1
Brandy Lyrics as written by Elliot Lurie
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Geez, I'm glad so many of you appreciate this song....but everyone is missing two important points in the lyrics. The first part of the song sings of hundreds of sailors coming to the bar to see Brandy. They all love her, and say she could steal them from the sea. But she doesn't love any of them. The one sailor fell in love with, is an honest man. All of the sailors sing "You're a fine girl, what a good wife you would be" but are lying when they say she could "steal a sailor from the sea." If she loved them, they'd probably marry her, but she would be their mistress. The man she loves sings that the same about her charm, but he is honest and tells her his life, lover and lady is the sea.
The dude who said it's about getting a waitress drunk and guys in a band turning down a gang....ummm, you need help. It's probably about a guy in this band who fell in love with a bartender and left her for his music career. He was probably honest with her, or at least wished he had been. And they probably fucked...
When my husband and I went through L.A. this year we were listening to KRTH 101. I have always loved this song, well he heard it for the first time and I loved that I got to hear it with him. I believe Brandy loves a sailor who loves the sea. She knows he won't marry her, but she is strong and knows it ain't gonna happen. All the other sailors know she is the perfect woman, but they can't have her. It's sad and mysterious.
I was named after this song. It was my fathers favorite song. I enjoy the song as long as I dont think of the lyrics. The lyrics disturb me. The song plays on every womans irrational fear of becoming an old maid who pines away for a man. Any Man.
I can't help but think " that selfish bastard!" How could he play that awful game with that woman knowing how she felt for him. What the hell was she thinking hanging around the place? I would have waited until he came back and let him watch me pack. That would be the last he'd see of me. Ugh! What a selfish ass!
But he made it clear... he couldn't stay
@kidnic, seems to me he made it clear he WOULDN'T stay. He also said his lady was the sea. The sea is not a person. If he truly was in love with the sea, he should have been making time with it, not the barmaid. It's just a bunch of excuses for emotional unavailability. Thought Fleetwood Mac poked all the necessary holes in those lies/crap. <br /> <br /> @brandyraynae, sorry. My father was a musician (& mother was a rayne, just fyi, unsure if yours is more like Renee). I believe this was my father's favorite, played it all the damned time. SO glad I was only 7 when this BS was out, and first saw Betty Friedan speak at 8, even though I've always been more of a 3rd wave feminist (post-Steinem). Stupid jerk had an IQ around 140 & NO DEPTH. Of all the options, when he played Jim Croce he played Leroy Brown. Perhaps it explains a lot that I thought Time in a Bottle was about alcohol. <br /> <br /> So relieved I grew up at a later time and chose a place where communication was a priority. But I still revert to those early exposures at times (bad idea FOR ME [lotsa Gemini, can you tell? ;-) ] to marry a guy who grew up in SpEnglItalian). <br /> It's a whole lot easier to deal (and sleep peacefully) when a guy splits for a couple days if he leaves you with Sugar Magnolia instead of this male lone wolf fantasy/delusion crap:<br /> "She's got everything delightful<br /> She's got everything I need<br /> A breeze in the pines in the summer night moonlight<br /> Crazy in the sunlight yes indeed<br /> Sometimes when the cuckoo's crying<br /> When the moon is halfway down<br /> Sometimes when the night is dying<br /> I take me out and I wander round<br /> Wander round . . . ."<br /> Men, take note. Loose Lucy, not so much. <br /> <br /> & women, throw Eagles Desperado at him if necessary, if you're prepared to hear you're just Ms. Right-Now. Better to know sooner than later. songmeanings.com/m/songs/view/4817/<br /> Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger<br /> Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home<br /> And freedom, oh freedom, well that's just some people talkin'<br /> Your prison is walking through this world all alone<br /> <br /> If you've really been dogged without cause by some delusional lone wolf & want payback or care enough to offer some insight, there's nothing like Steppenwolf Tenderness IF YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW IT'S ON THE MONEY. Some guys feel NO urge to pair off until 40-ish but end up fine. Nothing worse than telling a guy he'll die alone & he ends up happily married for 30 yrs (unless you scared him so much he changed). You better make sure it's him, not you. <br /> songmeanings.com/m/songs/view/11424/<br /> She said, she said all your women burn in your flame<br /> And as it dies, as it dies, they'll leave you and seek revenge<br /> She laughed and said "You'll go through hell<br /> You'll live in lonely rooms unknown<br /> And watch for my lost Tenderness."
@brandyraynae That last sentence rhymed lol! I agree with you 100 percent!
I had a girlfriend in Jr /Sr High In Iowa in the early 70’s.We had to part as our family moved to a neighboring state 450 miles away..Brandy Rae was a name we picked if we <br /> If we ever had a daughter..”.Brandy” after the song and “Rae “after her moms middle name..<br /> She had a boyfriend within a few months of me leaving and married him after she graduated that year.I graduated a year later ...and went Navy-to the sea..<br /> A few years went bye and long story shortened...She had a daughter and named her <br /> “Brandi”...and I believe “Rae “...With her husband.<br /> I lived in Iowa later briefly...and found the later fact a lil creepy yet nostalgic,also...<br /> Anyways I am happy for her /family that they are blessed as she had a heart murmur <br /> And I was told she was advised to not have kids...<br /> And as for Brandi ...I just feel some sadness as has a lot in common with this song of which she shares a name...Iowa is a great place to raise children however think she would have done well...financially ,socially,etc...had she moved to a big city on the east coast for instance...She is not married and working on 40 now...<br />
Here's the "skinny" on the song, from someone I met online. Like all legends, it may combine truth & myth:
"...even better than just knowing the song.. a few years ago I spoke with a guy who said he knew the actual BRANDY from the song.. the sailor was in the 7th fleet stations in San Francisco and his name was .. He was a good southern boy and his family did not approve of Brandy.. she was a single mom who worked at a bar... she was about 5'5" with bright red hair curly as all get out.. when the song talks about laying whiskeys down.. i always thought it refered to her serving drinks.., it seems that this was actually a game they played ( kind of like the quarters game they play at bars) anyway and Brandy dated for about 7 years, and eventually did get married in 1970 ( if i remember right) and the looking glass band members (who had served with *****) the timing is about right for this song to have been a wedding gift to them.. Not sure how true all of this is, but it sure adds flavor to the song...
Apart from being fruit do you know what "figs" is?
@figs Probably not true at all given that Looking Glass was an East Coast band formed at Rutgers University in 1969 and the song Brandy was released in August 1972. Kind of late for a 1970 wedding gift, let alone would they know some barmaid in California.
@figs ...having been in the Navy (mid 70’s) the 7th fleet at that time was stationed in the Atlantic fleet...NOT the pacific...
Thank you dsfire for the lyrics. Many of my ancestors were mariners who fished off the Grand Banks. I think that the song expresses love, obligation, comittment, admiration and patience. Regards, stringofpearls
The song is also tragic. It's about a girl who pines away for the rest of her life after a sailor who wants to commit, but just doesn't have it in him. I think it kind of adds insight into the human mind. We want to think we're capable of doing everything for love, or doing the right thing, but sometimes we just cant and we're clouded by our selfish interests.
@rockenpnay i feel like you missed the whole idea of the song, yes it is sad that the sailor leaves but its not that he is incapable of doing anything for love if you listen the lyrics say "my life, my love, and my lady is the sea" this proves quite the opposite of your statement it shows that you can do anything for love even leave a girl like brandy because his love is the sea
Great song. I blelive the line "She could feel the ocean foam rise" is actually "She could feel the ocean fall and rise".
Not to be too picky but the seventh paragraph, third sentence reads" She could feel the ocean foam rise "
It should read " She could feel the ocean fall and rise"
Raise your hand if you're here because of Guardians Of The Galaxy 2.
@kenba2099 my first two 45's were this song and "Dancing in the Moonlight" by King Harvest. But I LOVE that Guardians resurrected this one.
Im here cus of guardians of the galaxy 2 just started watching it on Netflix and wanted to play with my two dogs in my yard before sun went down on west coast of British Columbia im North Vancouver and wanted to play Brandy and i kept saying life instead of wife and my wife corrected me so i ended up here...lol tip of the hat to guardianst of galaxy 2
first of all, I agree with rockenpnay's comment so much it's kind of scary, because uh, that comment was posted on my birthday, not to mention when the song and the first comment were posted, too.
as for this song and what it means to me, well...a friend of mine introduced me to it about 7 years ago. for a few years afterwards, this song just pissed me off. really. I got pissed off everytime I would listen to it, because it made me mad that the guy goes on saying how great brandy is, and how she could steal a sailor away from the sea, and yet here he is, a sailor she is in love with(and he is in love with her), and yet he abandons her at the end! he gives her a locket, she wanders around alone after dark crying over the fact he just left her all alone...and for what? the damn sea? why couldn't she go with him?!
...yeah, I'm apparently still annoyed with the character in the song. however, my feelings towards this song changed a bit after it was sung to me...and i guess i feel a little softer where it's concerned now because i can see it as a lot more real. it's very bittersweet to me, for the reasons rockenpnay stated above, basically.
the friend who shared this with me used to say i'm pretty much brandy from the song...i could never see the similarities until he sang this to me once, afterwards i thought about it, and i guess he was right all along. "brandy tries her best to understand," indeed. i still say the ending to this song is a big rip-off.
@delial You’re annoyed by the sailor in the story? Are you kidding me? Listen to his words. “Brandy, you’re a fine girl. What a good wife you would be. BUT MY LUFE, MY LOVE, AND MY LADY IS THE SEA.” Also, he said this “HE MADE IT CLEAR, HE COULDN'T STAY. NO HARBOR WAS HIS HOME.” Just because she fell in love with him, it wasn’t his fault.