Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Marry You

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Released
  
August 10, 2011

Genre
  
Pop doo-wop soul

Label
  
Elektra, Warner

Format
  
CD single

Length
  
3:50

Recorded
  
Larrabee Recording Studios and Levcon Studios (Los Angeles)

"Marry You" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). Written and produced by The Smeezingtons, the track serves as the record's sixth track and was released as Mars's fourth single outside of the United States. "Marry You" is a pop song featuring strong influences of doo-wop and soul music. The recording focuses on spontaneous marriage and therefore, since its release, has frequently been used as a proposal song.

Contents

"Marry You" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with some complimenting its production and its reminiscence of 60's pop style. Some criticized a perceived lack of creativity. Despite not being released as a single in the US, the song charted at number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since sold 2.2 million copies there. It charted on most international markets within the top fifteen, reaching number 10 on the Canadian Hot 100, number 8 in Australia, the top five in New Zealand, and charting at number 11 in the United Kingdom. The single was certified three times platinum by Music Canada and two times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association. Mars performed "Marry You" on both of his worldwide tours, The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour (2010–12) and the Moonshine Jungle Tour (2013–14). The song has been covered a number of times, most notably by the cast of Glee; their cover outperformed the original song by reaching number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Development and conception

"Marry You" is one of the eleven songs composed and produced by The Smeezingtons, the collaboration of Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine, for Mars's debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. Lawrence explained the inspiration behind the song in an interview with American Songwriter stating, "[w]e had this image of a slow-mo video in Vegas of a couple running, and she’s in her gown and he’s in his tux, the wedding party is behind them and everyone’s raging. This sort of crazy, daring, wedding feeling". Lawrence was surprised at the impact of the song after watching some YouTube videos. He stated that "[w]e always thought it was a good song and catchy, but we didn’t think it would affect pop culture the way that it has. The first time we saw one of those YouTube videos, it changed everything for us. We were almost in tears, just the power of music... the power of what it is we can create. These ideas, words, and lyrics and how they can get into the fabric of society and affect people’s lives in such an amazing way."

"Marry You" was recorded at Larrabee Recording Studios in Hollywood and Levcon Studios in Los Angeles. The song was mixed by Manny Marroquin and assistants Christian Plata and Erik Madrid. Levine and Mars played and recorded all of the instruments on the track. Levine was also responsible for engineering the song at Levcon Studios. Stephen Marcussen mastered the song at Marcussen Mastering in Los Angeles.

Composition

"Marry You" was written by The Smeezingtons (Mars, Lawrence, and Levine). It combines elements of pop and doo-wop and soul. It lasts three minutes and fifty seconds. According to the digital sheet music published by Alfred Music Publishing, it was composed in time signature of common time and in the key of F major with a tempo of 145 beats per minute. The track begins with a running drum beat and also features double hand-claps, piano, echoing church wedding bells and a sing-songy chorus. Mars's vocal range spans from C4 to D5. His vocals in the song have been described as "plaintive" and "ach[ing] so gently", while wooing throughout the track.

The song has been characterized as possessing "forceful velocity" and an "instantly hummable melody" with it being "buoyant", "bubbly" and "Motown marriage track". A love song, it lyrically tells about a couple that go to Las Vegas, give up their "capricious impulses" and spontaneously decide to get married. Although the song has since become a "classic marriage tune", Lawrence has stated that the writers instead meant to imply a "racy kind of idea". Critics have compared the song to 60's girl groups and to the "surf pop of The Beach Boys", and Coldplay.

Critical reception

"Marry You" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Digital Spy's Lewis Corner gave it a strong review, rating it four out of five stars, with him labeling it as a song that "would not only impress the Elvis impersonator in any Vegas chapel, but is enough to make him a shoo-in for ultimate seducer of 2011" and a "60s-inspired jive-starter". NPR's Ken Tucker and Emily Yang of The Signal said that the recording's sound was reminiscent of 60's pop. Nina Baniamer of Contactmusic.com found the track's production "epic and ambitious" and called the "anthemic" song "sure fire hit". The Boston Globe critic Ken Capobianco praised the song for its "artfully arranged throwback" and exalted Mars's vocals on his love songs, such as "Marry You". Leah Greenblatt, writing for Entertainment Weekly, stated that "Marry You" has "a malt-shop heart" beating beneath its "digital skin", which shows innovation and creativity. The Independent music critic, Andy Gill, flattered the single by calling it "overly ingratiating". Blues & Soul said that "Marry You" is the second part of Just The Way You Are', similarly the "euphoria gets deployed", there is simplicity on the song which culminate in "the perfect platform for Mars' angst ridden yearning vocals to ride over the top complete with church bells." Harris Decker from The Truth About Music foud the song to have a "very over the top production" and praised Mars' vocals by dubbing them "perfect".

In a mixed review, Tim Sendra of Allmusic praised the song's "dynamic and nuanced production", yet founding the track "pleasantly silly". In a negative review, Mike Diver of BBC Music thought confessed that the recording was a "too-clingy and very creepy love song" and noted its lack of inspiration. Similarly, Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson suggested that the song was spun off of Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You", where the word "fuck" was changed to "marry". He further added that the single was a "bizarrely syncopated piledriver".

Chart performance

In the United States, "Marry You" debuted at number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 11, 2010. It reached a peak of number 85 on January 15, 2011 and remained on the chart for a total of 5 weeks. The song was never released as a single in the United States, despite its strong airplay on mainstream and adult top 40 radio stations. As of January 2015, the track has sold 2.2 million copies there and has yet to be certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The song's reception was stronger outside of the United States, thus debuting at number 89 in Canada on December 11, 2010, after the Glee performance of the track. It reached its peak position of number 10 on the Canadian Hot 100 in early November 2011. It was certified three times platinum by Music Canada. In the United Kingdom, "Marry You" debuted and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and remained on the chart for 39 weeks. The single performed well across the rest of Europe, reaching the top 10 in Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Slovakia and the top 20 in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland. In 2014, the song re-entered the Spanish Charts two years after its first appearance and reached a new peak of 26. It also made its debut on the Danish Charts at number 34.

In Australia, "Marry You" debuted at number 50 on the ARIA Singles Chart on December 12, 2010 and remained on the chart for three weeks. It reappeared on the chart on June 19, 2011, reaching a peak position at number 8 for two non-consecutive weeks; it dropped off the chart after 19 weeks. The single was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association in 2011. The single reached number 5 on New Zealand's RIANZ Singles Chart and spent five months on the chart. In Asia, the song peaked at number 3 on the Japan Hot 100, and the track was awarded Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. The single reached number 12 in South Korea and sold 2,152,783 copies there as of 2015.

Live performances and covers

Mars has performed the song at several shows, first at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City on August 25, 2010. On November 6, 2011, Mars and his band performed it live at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards. He also sang it on December 8, 2012 for the 2012 edition of Jingle Bell Ball, an event annually held and promoted by Capital FM at the O2 Arena in London. It was the eight song of his debut worldwide tour, The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour (2010), and was eight (2013 set list) or sixth (2014 set list) on his second worldwide tour, The Moonshine Jungle Tour (2013).

The song has been covered several times, first on the "Furt" episode of the television show Glee , which aired on November 23, 2010. The show's cover version achieved moderate success by peaking at number 27 in Australia, number 19 in Canada, number 31 in Ireland and number 32 in the United States. On January 1, 2013, the song was covered by Sunny, Sooyoung, and Yoona of South Korean girl group Girls' Generation for their comeback special, Girls' Generation's Romantic Fantasy. Rapper and actor Donald Glover sang a cover of the song in the film Magic Mike XXL. The cover appeared on the movie's soundtrack album, which was released on June 30, 2015.

Track listing

  • Promo CD Single
    1. "Marry You" – 3:50

    Credits and personnel

    Recording and mixing
  • Recorded at Larrabee Recording Studios and Levcon Studios in Los Angeles, California;
  • Mixed at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, California.
  • Personnel

    Credits adapted from the liner notes of Doo-Wops & Hooligans, Elektra Records:

    Process

    On August 10, 2011, a promo CD single containing the album version of "Marry You" became available for purchase through Elektra Records. A week later, the song was released in the United Kingdom via digital download. It was announced on September 13, 2011 that "Marry You" would be released in Germany.

    References

    Marry You Wikipedia