It was during one of these national tours that she caught the attention of Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. Impressed with her double-octave range, Yarrow invited her to join him on a national tour as a backup vocalist. His next step was putting her voice on vinyl: Mary was heard singing backup on Yarrow's Love Songs album. Her blossoming vocal talent led to her first solo endeavor, produced by Yarrow, the fateful "Torn Between Two Lovers."
"I never liked the song too much, and I still don't," said Mary. "There are just some songs I like, and some I don't, and this is one of them. Peter and I had a very long relationship. We're both very emotional people, and whenever we got together it was a very volatile experience. Sometimes it was positive, sometimes negative, and on this particular song we had a lot of fights. Was it really good? Was it going to make it? We had a lot of discussions about this song.
"For me to sing anything, I have to get emotionally involved. That's what really makes it for me. I didn't like 'Torn' mostly because it was boring to sing. It's a real 'sleeper' kind of ballad. Peter thought it was a real statement, and he wanted it to happen. He wanted a woman to sing it, and he wanted that woman to be me.
"I recorded the song in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, while standing in a bathroom. It was a room that was actually part of the studio, just sort of built-in there. They had a boom stand with a microphone on the end of it. The boom was in the studio, and the mike kind of stuck in through the door, hanging over the mirror. It was a tiny little room, but I finally worked things around so I didn't have to stare at myself singing. It's a great place. You get a lot of natural echo in bathrooms."
Mary was trembling when she recorded her big song, and not from the studio air conditioning. At the time, she'd been happily married for five years, and just the thought of being unfaithful to her husband, Don, was traumatic. But then came stardom, and the hopes, pressures, fears, and disappointments that come with it. On May 25, 1978, Mary filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences." Her next release -- a flop -- was called "Memories."
"A lot of people are torn between two lovers," said Mary, "or have been, or will be. The single itself must have touched a lot of them, because it sold more than two million copies worldwide."
"Torn Between Two Lovers" began its rise in November 1976, finally peaking at number one in February 1977. It put Mary in the spotlight -- for the moment -- but ruined her career singing advertising jingles.
Living on her central California ranch where she raises horses and writes songs, Mary looked back at her moment in the spotlight. She says the song ultimately proved to be a strain -- "not because I was sleeping with someone else, but because I was living with my career instead of with him. But those things happen."
"Now I'm in a dilemma because I'm too well known to return to being an anonymous singer for a bank, but I'm not well known enough to get bookings. I never thought about being a success until 'Torn.' I was trying to make a career out of doing commercials. Now I can't.
"Success is so fickle," she warned. "You're only as good as you're next hit."
Mary would never repeat the commercial success of "Torn," however she did crack the Top 40 one more time before the end of the decade with "Good Friend," which was featured on the soundtrack of the Bill Murray comedy Meatballs.
Just the Way You Are
Mary MacGregor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You never let me down before.
And don't imagine you′re too familiar, and I don't see you anymore.
I would not leave you in times of trouble,
We never could have come this far.
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I′ll take you just the way you are.
Don't change the colour of your hair.
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care.
I don′t want clever conversation,
I never want work that hard.
I just want someone that I can talk to,
I want you just the way you are.
I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew.
What really takes to you believe in me
The way that I believe in you?
I said I loved you and lasts forever
This I promised from my heart.
I couldn't love you any better
I love you just the way you are.
In Mary MacGregor's song "Just the Way You Are," the singer is reassuring her partner not to change who they are for her. She appreciates the person they are and does not want them to feel pressured to be someone else. She has confidence in their relationship and believes that they've always been reliable. The line "I would not leave you in times of trouble" emphasizes the strength of their bond and that she will stand by them through thick and thin. The lyric "I took the good times, I'll take the bad times, I′ll take you just the way you are" further emphasizes that she loves her partner for who they are, no matter what life throws at them.
The second verse continues the theme of appreciating her partner for who they are. She does not care about their appearance or fashion choices, only that they continue to be themselves. She wants someone she can talk to and connect with, rather than someone who is always trying to impress her with clever conversation. The chorus repeats the theme of accepting her partner for who they are, with the added emphasis that she loves them just the way they are, and no improvements are necessary.
Overall, the song is a heartfelt love ballad that emphasizes the importance of accepting someone for who they are, flaws and all. It's a reminder that true love is about the connection between two people, rather than superficial qualities like fashion choices or appearance.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't go changing to try and please me,
I don't want you to change who you are just to make me happy
You never let me down before.
I can always count on you to be there for me
And don't imagine you′re too familiar, and I don't see you anymore.
Even though we've been together for a while, I still see you as the person I fell in love with
I would not leave you in times of trouble,
I will always be there for you, even when things get tough
We never could have come this far.
Our relationship has lasted this long because we've always been there for each other
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I'm with you for all of the ups and downs, not just the good times
I'll take you just the way you are.
I love you for who you are, and I don't want you to change
Don't go trying some new fashion,
I don't want you to change your style just to impress me
Don't change the colour of your hair.
Your physical appearance doesn't matter to me, I love you for who you are on the inside
You always have my unspoken passion
I am always deeply in love with you, even if I don't always express it
Although I might not seem to care.
Even if it seems like I'm not paying attention sometimes, I really do care about you deeply
I don't want clever conversation,
I don't need you to be witty or amusing all the time, I just want to connect with you
I never want work that hard.
I don't expect our relationship to be perfect or require a lot of effort, I just want to be with you
I just want someone that I can talk to,
All I really want is to have open and honest conversations with you
I want you just the way you are.
You are perfect just the way you are and I wouldn't want you to change anything about yourself
I need to know that you will always be
It's important to me that you will always stay the same person and love me for who I am
The same old someone that I knew.
I fell in love with you for who you were when we first met, and I hope you never change from that person
What really takes to you believe in me
I need to know that you believe in our love and that we are meant to be together
The way that I believe in you?
I believe in you with all my heart and hope you feel the same way about me
I said I loved you and lasts forever
My love for you will always last and never fade away
This I promised from my heart.
My love for you is true and sincere
I couldn't love you any better
There's nothing I could do to love you more than I already do
I love you just the way you are.
You are perfect just the way you are and I wouldn't want you to change anything about yourself
Writer(s): Billy Joel
Contributed by Jason R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.