Date: Feb 5, 1977
Weeks: 2
I'm a little lost on the intended interpretation of this song. The first verse sounds like this woman is sitting her significant other down and telling him she's dumping him for another man. But by the second verse she sounds like she's remembering the good times with Guy #1, and then she follows up with "With everything I feel inside, I'm asking you to stay." So possibly she's changed her mind and decided to drop Guy #2 for Guy #1. So she cheated, and now she's being wishy-washy and indecisive.
However, the other possible interpretation, and one that almost makes more sense to me, is that she's informing Guy #1 that she wants to be in an open relationship, and she wants to be with both of them. "He knows he can't possess me and he knows he never will. There's just this empty place inside of me that only he can fill." That sounds like a present-tense fact. "Loving both of you is breaking all the rules." Clearly loving both of them is exactly what she wants to do, and the only questions are whether she's willing to break the social rules and whether she can convince them to go for it. I guess a woman knowing what she wants is empowering. Unfortunately, while the open relationship idea is an interesting one to explore, I tend to think she's just wishy-washy.
Mostly I think she's wishy-washy because of the music. It's gentle music to break bad news by. It's not assertive or challenging to social norms. It's just by-the-numbers acoustic strumming, with a little light piano and super-light percussion to back it. I just noticed there are strings way in the background, too. As is all too common in the 70s, there are a lot of instruments here making very little sound.
Mary MacGregor is an okay singer, I guess. She has that very gentle vocal quality that was so common in the 70s. She doesn't express the emotional depth that Karen Carpenter does, but she also manages sincerity to a degree that Barbra Streisand can't manage. She's fine, I just wish she had better song selection.
My verdict: Don't like it. I suppose I have to give the lyrics credit for making me think about them a little. But the bland, bland music just can't carry the song, and MacGregor doesn't sufficiently elevate it.
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