Dear reader, I am about to give you an earworm. Apologies in advance. If it’s any comfort to you, I share that worm with you as I write this.
I have no idea why, but during my commute to work today, I started thinking about the song Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) by the band Looking Glass. It’s a catchy tune. Click that link and you can hear it if you aren’t hearing it already in your head.
Brandy was number one on the Hot 100 chart in 1972. In 1971, the name Brandy was in 353rd place for newborn baby names. By 1973, it had risen to 82nd most popular. Coincidence?
If you haven’t heard of Looking Glass, you can’t be blamed. They were sort of a one hit wonder. When you heard them live, they apparently sounded nothing like their recorded songs. Oh, the joys of over-dubbing!
Anyway, like I said, that song is stuck in my head. Because of that, I started really thinking about the lyrics:
Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)
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"
(Dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)
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
Bringin' 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"
(Dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)
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 ragin' glory
But he had always told the truth, Lord, he was an honest man
And Brandy does her best to understand
(Dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)
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"
(Dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)
"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"
That song is definitely a product of its time. This article provides some context. It was not the easiest era to be a woman.
To sum it up, women could not get credit cards in their own name until 1974. Women had no legal protection against getting fired simply for being pregnant until 1978. Women could not fight on the front lines in wartime until 2013, and until 1973 they were only allowed into the military as nurses or support staff. No one could take legal action against sexual harassment on the job until 1977. Spousal rape was not criminalized in all 50 states until 1993, regardless of what mood you may or may not have been in.
Worst of all, women had no autonomy over their own bodies until 1973. Can you imagine? Someone else being able to override your choice as to what to do with even one tiny part of your body? Insane, right?
Oops. We lost lose rights again when Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. I suspect most of the men in your life barely noticed, but I hope you did. But even when we had Roe, believe you me, the right had been continually challenged and/or chipped away at since the day it became law in 1973. It’s the last true bastion of control that men possess over women. They’re not going to give it up easily.
That’s the atmosphere in which Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) was created. Looking through that lens, it’s not so bad. But during my “bewormed” commute, I began thinking about Brandy as a 62-year-old woman, and what she would say to the younger generations today if given the chance. So I created the following story.
To set the scene, it's 2017 and Brandy’s grandniece is helping her unpack in her guestroom in Washington DC. She comes across the locket that was mentioned in the song. She asks her Aunt Brandy about it. Brandy gets a faraway look and says, “Oh, wow. That’s a really long story.”
Her grandniece, anticipating the spillage of some major tea, settles in against the headboard. There is plenty of time, because Brandy had come into town for a women’s march, and it wasn’t starting until the next day.
While holding the pussy hat that she had made for herself specifically for this occasion, here’s what Brandy said:
“There were a little over 100,000 people living in Anchorage at the time, and the ‘respectable’ ones didn’t hang out around the port, you know? But there was still some cheap housing to be had in the area, and the family was poor. Your great grandad used to say we were so poor we couldn’t even pay attention.
“Anyway, when I was 17 I lied about my age and got a job slinging drinks at a bar down by the waterfront. It was a real dive. It’s still industrial area to this day. Back then, the Air Force Base was in a bit of a decline, so we were seeing fewer airmen, but there were plenty of sailors of the Deadliest Catch kind hanging around. Not long enough to become regulars, mind you, but still…
“I hadn’t exactly lived a sheltered life, but I was 17. What the hell did I know? I just wanted to get on with things, anywhere but there. I know it’s hard to believe these days, but back then women were taught that the only ticket to happiness was being rescued by some man.
“I really did think that the guy who gave me this locket was something special, and that someday he’d love me so much that he’d want to settle down with me, hopefully somewhere other than there. I had visions of white picket fences and steady paychecks and kids playing in the yard. That was what I had been taught to aspire to.
“But I have no hard feelings toward him. He never lied to me. Not only didn’t he make me any promises, but in fact he came right out and said that it wasn’t going to happen for us. I didn’t ‘do my best to understand’. Not at all. I just chose to look at our relationship through rose colored glasses.
“I never saw him again. I often wonder what became of him. I hope that wherever he is, he has been happy. It took me about a year and a half to come to my senses and stop pining away for him.
“By then women were starting to wake up to the fact that if we were going to improve our lives, we’d need to take matters into our own hands. So I packed a bag, gathered what money I had managed to save, and, against my father's protests, took a bus to Minneapolis. I figured that if it was good enough for Mary Tyler Moore, it was good enough for me.
“It was rough going for a while there. I had to continue to bartend to make ends meet while I went to college full time. But I did it and I never looked back.
“Along with my course of study, I learned in school that a husband shouldn’t be thought of as a ticket to happiness. Marriage needs to be a partnership that plays to each other’s strengths. I also knew that I really didn’t want to have children, so I wasn’t in any rush to find that life partner.
"After having heard so many stories about the world from those sailors at the Anchorage bar, I wanted to travel and experience other cultures. And that’s exactly what I did. Decades later, after having been to 22 countries, I found a man who turned out to be a keeper, and I still feel that way about your uncle. But even if I chose to be alone, I'd have been fine. Having choices is such a precious gift.
“The only regret I have is that I had to fight for everything I wanted in life. Society did its level best to hold me back from my dreams. I was constantly told that I couldn't or shouldn't do this or that. The only comfort I got from that constant struggle was the hope that maybe I’d make things slightly easier for the women who were to follow me, because I kept showing everyone that I could and would do what was best for me.
“That’s why I got tears in my eyes at your graduation from Harvard, dear girl. I am so proud of you. You did it. No one can ever take that away from you.
“Just promise me one thing. You will never take these hard-earned rights for granted. Don’t let this country continue to slide backwards. Now it's your generation's turn to lead this fight.
“Here. Take the locket as a reminder of your Aunt Brandy. Let it inspire you to keep paving your own way toward the future that you want and deserve. And if you ever fall on hard times, you can always pawn it. I won't mind. Lord knows I had to pawn it a time or two myself. It’s made of the finest silver from the North of Spain, after all, so it is worth a lot more than nostalgia.
Brandy’s grandniece hadn’t planned on going with her to that history=making women’s march the next day, but she changed her mind. It was an experience she’d never forget. It would be the first of many such marches for her, and it inspired her to set entirely different goals.
The photo they took together, standing in that crowd, holding their signs, takes pride of place on her desk at her law firm. The locket hangs on its silver chain from the corner of the frame. The law firm is known for specializing in women’s rights cases and she can’t imagine anywhere else she’d rather work.
She often wears that locket when she makes her closing arguments in front of a jury, grand or otherwise. She doesn’t think of it as a lucky charm. She doesn’t need luck. She has talent and expertise. But sometimes, especially after winning a particularly important case, she smiles heavenward and hopes that Aunt Brandy is proud of the legacy she forged.
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