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Our 10 Great Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary presents a list of songs centered on the name Mary. For this list, we decided that as long as the song is about a girl named Mary, then it does not also have to include the name “Mary” in the song title. This is what will separate this article from any others.
In Ireland, the name Mary consistently ranks among the top 100 choices for newborn girls, embraced widely within the Christian community because of Mother Mary. Its popularity also extends to Protestant circles, inspired by Queen Mary II, who ruled alongside William III. Contrastingly, in England and Wales by 2007, Mary had slipped to the 179th spot in popularity, overtaken by various other forms of the name.
Historically in the United States, Mary was the preeminent choice for baby girls from 1880 to 1961. It wasn’t until 2009 that the name dropped out of the top 100. Its Spanish counterpart, Maria, saw a significant rise, entering the top 100 in 1944 and peaking at 31st in the 1970s before it too fell from favor after 2012.
In the southern regions of the United States, Mary remains more prevalent. For instance, in 2007, it was the 15th most chosen name in Alabama, the 22nd in Mississippi, 44th in North Carolina, 33rd in South Carolina, and 26th in Tennessee.
By 1990, according to that year’s census, Mary was still the most common name among women and girls in the entire United States. More recent data from the Social Security Administration indicate that as of 2023, Mary is the seventh most common name in the United States, carried by over two million individuals.
There were so many to choose from as Mary is one of the most popular names of all time. We tried picking some deeper tracks to make it more interesting as well as some songs that don’t even have Mary in the name but rather just in the lyrics, and of course a couple of classics. What would you come up with?
# 10 – The River – Bruce Springsteen
We open our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary list with the haunting Bruce Springsteen song entitled “The River.” The hope and dreams from Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run album had all faded on his fifth album The River in certain songs. The big question here is, was Bruce singing about the same Mary he had introduced to us all in “Thunder Road?”
# 9 – Blow Wind Blow – Tom Waits
It’s always fun to include a Tom Waits song on any of these top 10 lists. Continuing with our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary list, we present this chilling Tom Waits recording called “Blow Wind Blow.” In this one Mary’s On The Blacktop. What exactly that means, I’m not really sure, but that’s the wonder of it all. In the end, we picked this great track off the Frank Wild Years album for its originality in all its twisted Tom Waits glory.
# 8 – Mary’s Prayer
In the number eight spot on our 10 Best Rock Songs About a Girl Named Mary list, we present a song that we wonder how many people may have actually heard. Danny Wilson was one of those bands that should have been much bigger than they ever were. They only released two studio albums, but those rock fans who were lucky enough to discover them became big fans of the group. The song “Mary’s Prayer” was by far their biggest hit. It even got some airplay on MTV when it was first released. It’s a beautiful song of substance that recalls the styles of Steely Dan and the Beatles. If you haven’t heard this one, we highly recommend you check it out.
Read More: The Top 10 Danny Wilson Songs
# 7 – Hail Mary – Alice Cooper
It’s amazing how Alice Cooper has continued to put out great rock and roll music for so long. We were originally going to go with Alice Cooper’s “Mary Ann,” but we thought it would be cooler to introduce rock fans to something more recent and perhaps more unknown to Alice Cooper fans. “Hail Mary” was released on Alice Cooper’s 2021 album Detroit Stories.
# 6 – And Along Comes Mary – Bloodhound Gang
Landing in the number six spot on our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary list is one of the most obvious choices. I guess we had to put at least one of the most popular songs ever written about Mary on this list. However, while most people are well aware of the original version released by The Association in 1966, we thought this version was much more interesting. Make sure to watch this very entertaining video that goes along with it.
# 5 – Catholic Girls – Frank Zappa
At the halfway point on our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary list, we celebrate the genius of Frank Zappa. There are many instances in Zappa’s catalog where the name Mary comes up. One of the most famous is the song “The Man From Utopia Meets Mary Lou.” However, Mary is a character that pops up several times on the Joe’s Garage album. We will leave out the reference during the Central Scrutinzer’s dialogue and instead, point to the line in the song “Catholic Girls”…….
# 4 – Mary And The Soldier – Bob Dylan
At the number four spot on our 10 Best Rock Songs About a Girl Named Mary list, we present a very rare Bob Dylan recording entitled “Mary and the Soldier.” The song was originally recorded for the World Gone Wrong album but was not released until the issue of The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 – Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006. This is a haunting traditional song that must be heard, where Mary is the central character mentioned numerous times throughout the song.
# 3 – Johnny and Mary – Robert Palmer
Moving along on our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary list, it’s time for a little bit of Robert Plamer.”Johnny and Mary” is one of Robert Palmer’s all-time great songs. It was recorded in 1980 at Compass Point Studios in New Providence, Bahamas, and featured on Palmer’s album Clues (1980). In Spain, it topped the Spanish singles chart, reaching number one.
# 2 – Let It Be – The Beatles
Just off the top spot on our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary list, we celebrate one of the most loved Beatles songs ever released, “Let It Be.” When we all first heard Paul McCartney sing the lyrics “Mother Mary Comes to Me,” we all assumed he was talking about the Holy Mother Mary. It turned out he was singing about his late mom. It made it even more beautiful and sad too. The song “Let It Be” was released on the last released Beatles album, Let It Be, in 1970.
# 1 – Thunder Road – Bruce Springsteen
We close out our 10 Best Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary list with the legendary Bruce Springsteen song “Thunder Road.” For many Bruce Springsteen fans, including this one here, “Thunder Road” is Springsteen’s most identifying song. Some may choose “Born To Run,” but I have always thought it was “Thunder Road”that cast the spell among us in the 1970s. It was a magical piece centered around Bruce and his girl named Mary. He sets it up beautifully in the opening line, ” The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves.” It’s a song of escape and hope. It’s what all teenagers in the 1970s dreamed of. And in one line, Bruce makes it even more realistic when he sings…..”You ain’t a beauty but hey, you’re alright, and that’s alright with me.” The song was released on the Born To Run album in 1975.
10 Great Rock Songs About A Girl Named Mary article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2024
i always loved tom petty’s Mary Jane…does that one count in the mary debate? lol
Of course it does. We were just trying to come up with some deeper stuff.
Mary Long, deep purple
The correct Thunder Road lyric (from the official Bruce Springsteen site) is:
“The screen door slams
Mary’s dress sways
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays ”
as you can see, a better rhyme for the following couplet. To be honest, he has, at times sung waves, but on a TV interview admitted that the correct word is sways.
Yeah, I saw that inteview and it made me feel better because I must have looked at those lyrics on the Born To Run album thousands of times growing up with that album in the 1970s and I knew it said waves. And I still hear it that way. But hey how could I argue with Bruce who says it was “sways.” Thanks for coming to the site Chris.