July 29, 2004 | Posted by David B. at 10:51 AM

crushing quiet

Mary Lou Lord

There are a few default songs that enter my subconscious when I'm walking down the street. It's often "If It Makes You Happy" (don't ask), but more often than not it's "I Figured You Out" by Mary Lou Lord. I know close to nothing about Mary Lou Lord, nor have I heard many of her songs. I know she's got a lot of fans out there. All I know is that Elliott Smith wrote this song and never officially recorded it, to my knowledge, and it's just a damn perfect song. Mary Lou Lord delivers it perfectly, too. When Elliott died last year this was the song that made me realize what just happened. This is from the Martian Saints EP, which you can buy here.

Comments

Oh Mary Lou, how you make me swoon!

Nice one.

Posted by: chrisp at July 29, 2004 12:13 PM

Just a quick note on the song: Mary Lou watched Elliott compose it over the course of a couple of hours. When completed, he literally crumpled the paper that he had written it on and threw it in the trash. He explained that it sounded too much like an Eagles song. (To which I say: what the fuck? It sounds nothing like an Eagles song.) Mary Lou pulled the song out of the trash and, to my mind, saved one of Elliott's most heartbreaking songs.

Also of note: Mary Lou's cover of the Magnetic Fields' "I Don't Want to Get Over You" (as found on "Live City Sounds"), which I think you can download for free over at the Rubric Records website.

Posted by: Ben at July 29, 2004 1:02 PM

Yeah, I agree about the Magnetic Fields cover; it's good. And that's a great story about how it was written ... The Eagles? What the fuck?

Posted by: David at July 29, 2004 1:33 PM

Mary Lou Lord is one of the best folk artists of the modern day. People say that she just does covers, that she can't write her own songs, but the covers she does are so perfect! Her voice and interpretive talent are alone enough to justify her importance to the modern folk movement.

Posted by: --s-tephen at July 29, 2004 2:45 PM

I love this track. Thank you so much. 1 Q though? Why does the riff sound so familiar... want to hum something along the lines...something in love with me...da da dadada. I dunno. Great track.

Posted by: Reagan's Youth at July 29, 2004 4:22 PM

Just got around to listening to this track--fantastic! I'll definitely be seeking out more of her stuff. Thanks for posting this and all the others. I enjoy your comments and the exposure to new songs!

Posted by: Tom at July 30, 2004 10:50 AM

Glad you liked it. If you can track down a bootleg of Elliott singing this live, it's really something.

Posted by: David at July 30, 2004 2:05 PM

I've seen Mary Lou perform in T stations (Boston subway) a few times. The first time, I remember thinking "This girl sounds like Mary Lou Lord" because I couldn't see her from where I was standing, and then suddenly a song ended and I heard, "Thanks, my name is Mary Lou Lord." Cool.

Posted by: lizzie at July 31, 2004 10:53 AM

Wow, that's quite a song.

Thanks.

=darwin

Posted by: Darwin at July 31, 2004 3:38 PM

man in black

Posted by: man in black at November 3, 2004 6:07 AM

Hello

Posted by: johny at January 1, 2005 3:04 PM
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