Oh Marie

In college, I played in a band called Two Mikes from Jersey and the Exit 9 Band. It was a wild ride. We went from playing the occasional set at the Coffee House to nearly falling apart our junior year to a raging comeback as (mostly) seniors.

During our freshman year, I wrote a song called 2.16 about my misadventures on Valentine’s Day of that year. Of course, the date is wrong, which tells you all you need to know about my state of mind during that year.

The song was in B Major and had a swing feel. As we had two trumpets in the band, we were able to make something that vaguely resembled Big Band arrangement, and people went crazy every time we played it. Stanford has a vibrant swing dance culture, and people from all walks of life would dance up a storm. It was a great thing to watch, and much more fun than when our fans would spill beer in the piano.

My senior year, in 2005, I wrote Oh Marie as a sort of extension and rejection of 2.16. It was right before graduation, a moment that I also wrote Sarah Come Home.

Oh Marie occupies a special place in my heart. It’s pure joy, pure fluff, pure fun. There’s no second degree. No irony. It’s just a dance tune, plain and simple.

Here’s a Suno rendition of the chart, made from a vocal sketch I did in the early 2020s along with a MIDI version of the chart. It stays true to the chart and adds a warm crooning style that I can’t do myself.

I’m talking with the Amazing Keystone Big Band about a potential recording, and I’d love to get this into the repertoire of my alma mater Queen’s University Belfast Big Band. If your Big Band would like to play it, the charts are below, and you can always e-mail me to invite me to the show!