Johnny And Mary by Robert Palmer

Album: Clues (1980)

Charted: 44

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Songfacts®:

This song is about a couple that are just going through the motions. Johnny is trapped in predictable patterns and Mary just goes along with it.

Palmer was living in Nassau, Bahamas when he wrote song. There's a large ex-pat community there comprised of people who thought moving to the Bahamas would solve their problems, only to discover their issues travel with them.

"Lyrically I was dealing with my exposure to expatriots in the Bahamas," Palmer wrote in his Addictions: Volume 1 compilation. "I'd never seen such contrived formality before but Johnny and Mary obviously had. These are people who have fallen into life like a habit, here's no struggle or romance in what they do."
Palmer used a prototype sequencer to create the rhythm. On this track and others from the Clues album, he used a lot of machines to make the music, creating a new sound that was cutting edge, but too odd for many listeners. The song did pretty well in the UK where this New Wave sound was making inroads, but it flopped on America.
The French singer Marie Léonor released a 1980 cover in her native language that Palmer liked a lot, saying she "got it absolutely right." The pair performed it together on French TV in 1981.
Palmer released a video for this song that was directed by Jean-Pierre Berckmans. Palmer plays a writer as Johnny and Mary are portrayed as mimes, literally going through the motions.

MTV needed videos like this in a bad way when they launched a year later. They didn't play this one, but did put Palmer's video for "Looking For Clues" in rotation.

Comments: 1

Paoulo from Victoria. AustraliaI saw the video for Jonnie And Mary many times through my teens without knowing its title or meaning. Turns out it doesn't have much meaning beyond a bored couple. It's quite depressing with its depiction of monotony and almost monotone tune, yet it has a catchy beat and propelling quickness to it. I found many videos of the 80s new romantic era looked cliched with those window blinds and mist to dramatise the lighting.

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