After graduating from high school in 1967, she worked as a secretary and performed part-time as a singer for a local folk band called Sweet Rain. Her singing caught the attention of Russ Regan (then head of 20th Century Records) in 1972 when he heard a demo she had recorded. At the time, Regan was searching for a singer to record "The Morning After" (the theme from The Poseidon Adventure) for release as a record. He hired McGovern sight unseen to record the song, which led to her signing with 20th Century Records. After it won an Oscar for Best Original Song, "The Morning After" quickly climbed the pop charts, reaching #1 in 1973.
In 1974, she recorded two movie themes: "We May Never Love Like This Again" (from the disaster film The Towering Inferno, in which she made a short appearance when she is seen singing the song as the evening's entertainment) and "Wherever Love Takes Me" (from the British disaster film Gold). The former won an Oscar (though it was only a minor pop hit), and the latter received an Oscar nomination. These two songs (along with "The Morning After") led the media to call McGovern "the Disaster Theme Queen."
McGovern's contract with 20th Century ended in 1976. By this time, her career went downhill and she ended up broke, due to being cheated out of her earnings by her managers and producers. To begin her life over again, she moved to Marina del Rey and took a secretarial job under an assumed name. However, she was still in demand occasionally for international live concerts. Her career made a turn for the better when she was asked to record a version of "Can You Read My Mind," the love theme from 1978's Superman, which was not recorded for the film. The single achieved minor success on the Pop charts. Toward the end of the decade, she recorded "Different Worlds," the theme from a short-lived TV sitcom entitled Angie. The song was her only other Top 40 single aside from "The Morning After," reaching #18 on the Pop charts in 1979 and also spending two weeks at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In 1980, she made a cameo appearance as the singing nun, Sister Angelina, in the comedy-disaster movie Airplane!.
At the beginning of the 1980s, McGovern gave up movie themes to begin a career on Broadway, despite having no acting experience. In 1981, she made her Broadway debut as Mabel in a revival of Gilbert & Sullivan's musical The Pirates of Penzance. She then performed in two productions with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera: The Sound of Music (1981; as Maria) and South Pacific (1982; as Nellie Forbush). She continued her theatrical career throughout the eighties and originated the role of Mary in the Off-Broadway production of Brownstone in 1985.
In 2005, McGovern returned to the Broadway stage as Marmee opposite Sutton Foster's Jo in the musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Plagued by negative reviews, it quickly closed, but McGovern reprised her role for the successful subsequent national tour.
She slowly returned to music in the mid-eighties, contributing songs to musical soundtracks and recording for various-artist compilations. She also returned to touring and performing in concerts and began establishing herself as a classy, jazzy nightclub and cabaret performer. Starting in 1987, she released three albums for CBS in three years - Another Woman in Love (a voice/piano album), State of the Heart (a fully orchestrated album), and Naughty Baby (a live album).
In 1989, she performed her debut concert in Carnegie Hall, singing a collection of songs by George Gershwin. The concert was recorded live and released that year as an album entitled Naughty Baby; it features a very first recording of a lost Gershwin song "A Corner of Heaven With You" (written ca. 1917).
From the nineties into the 21st century, McGovern continued her careers in musical theatre, performing in concerts, and recording albums, and she occasionally made guest appearances on television. Other recordings include Baby I'm Yours (1992), a collection of her favorite songs from 1955 to 1970, and Out of This World (1996), a collection of songs by Harold Arlen. She was twice nominated for a Grammy, for her albums The Music Never Ends (1997), a collection of songs by Alan & Marilyn Bergman, and The Pleasure of His Company (1998), another voice/piano album.
In 2003, Out of This World and The Music Never Ends were rereleased by Fynsworth Alley Records; both albums included bonus tracks, the former two, and the latter three.
The Man I Love
Maureen McGovern Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And he'll be big and strong, the man I love
And when he comes my way,
I'll do my best to make him stay
He'll look at me and smile, I'll understand
And in a little while he'll take my hand
And though it seems absurd
Maybe I shall meet him Sunday
Maybe Monday, maybe not
Still, I'm sure to meet him one day
Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day
He'll build a little home just meant for two
From which I'll never roam, who would, would you?
And so all else above,
I'm waiting for the man I love
Maybe I shall meet him Sunday
Maybe Monday, maybe not
Still, I'm sure to meet him one day
Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day
He'll build a little home just meant for two
From which I'll never roam, who would, would you?
And so all else above,
I'm waiting for the man I love
The song "The Man I Love" by Maureen McGovern is about waiting for the perfect man to come into the singer's life. The song is filled with hope, longing, and anticipation for the arrival of the ideal partner. The song is filled with metaphors that represent the never-ending search for true love.
The opening lines of the song express the singer's hope that someday the perfect man will come along. She imagines this man as someone who is strong and confident, and someone who will appreciate her for who she is. The singer's desire to make this man stay with her is an expression of her deep longing for a lasting and meaningful relationship.
The imagery in the song is vivid and emotional, with references to things like a little home meant for two, which represents the comfort and security that the singer hopes to find with the perfect man. The chorus repeats the phrase "Maybe I shall meet him Sunday, maybe Monday, maybe not" to express the singer's uncertainty about when this perfect man will arrive. However, she remains hopeful and confident that she will meet him one day.
Overall, the song is a poignant reflection on the search for love and the hope that one day, the perfect person will come along.
Line by Line Meaning
Someday, he'll come along, the man I love
One day, the man I love will arrive in my life
And he'll be big and strong, the man I love
The man I love will be physically sturdy and robust
And when he comes my way,
I'll do my best to make him stay
When I meet him, I'll try my hardest to keep him with me.
He'll look at me and smile, I'll understand
I'll recognize and comprehend his feelings from the way he smiles at me.
And in a little while he'll take my hand
Gradually, he'll softly take my hand in his.
And though it seems absurd
I know we both won't say a word
It may sound irrational, but neither of us will utter any words as our mutual attraction will speak for us.
Maybe I shall meet him Sunday
Maybe Monday, maybe not
Still, I'm sure to meet him one day
Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day
I don't know when precisely I'll meet him, but I'm confident that we will cross paths sometime later in the future, and hopefully, it'll be soon.
He'll build a little home just meant for two
From which I'll never roam, who would, would you?
He'll establish a modest, comfortable dwelling where only we two will reside together, and why would I need to, or anyone else want to leave such a place?
And so all else above,
I'm waiting for the man I love
In summary, nothing comes above waiting for the arrival of the man I love in my life.
Lyrics © RALEIGH MUSIC PUBLISHING, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GEORGE GERSHWIN, IRA GERSHWIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind