“Archie, Marry Me” by Alvvays
The chorus of “Archie, Marry Me” centers on the vocalist entreating the titular “Archie”, who is also the addressee and of course her romantic interest, to marry her. But based on the writer/vocalist, Molly Rankin’s, own explanation of this tune, its actual intent is to criticize the concept of marriage.
In other words, Rankin composed it at a time when she was at the age where society at large expected she and her agemates to marry. However, Molly did personally feel that way.
More specifically, it can be ascertained from the lyrics, what she actually has an issue with is how marriage is made out into a big, glorious event, one in which, critically speaking, many people put more value on the fanciness of the ceremony than the actual union itself.
Therefore, what she is actually indirectly asserting is that hers and Archie’s love is one that’s real. As such, if they were to marry, it doesn’t matter if there’s a ceremony or not. Or more to the point, it isn’t actually necessary that they do officially marry.
And the underlying implication, as put forth in the bridge, is that she and Archie are indeed shacking up, it is rather societal pressure, i.e. non acceptance of such a lifestyle, which is causing her to bring up the idea of formal matrimony in the first place.
So reading in between the lines, it’s as if what Alvvays is really putting forth is that true marriage is not defined by legal formalities.
When was “Archie, Marry Me” released?
It was released on April 6 of 2013 as a single from the album, “Alvvays”. The self-titled album was the band’s first. It was released in July of 2014 by the following music labels:
- Royal Mountain
- Polyvinyl
- Transgressive
The album gained some enviable accolades including ranking at number one on the list of “30 Best Canadian Albums of 2014”. It peaked at number 36 on Rolling Stone’s 2014 list of top 50 albums.
Writing/Production
The song was co-written by band members, Alec O’Hanley and Molly Rankin. The pair played significant roles in writing all other songs on the album.
It was produced by Canadian, Chad VanGaalen at Yoko Eno studio in Calgary, western Canada. Chad has a few albums to his name, notable among them are “Infiniheart”, “Soft Airplane” and “Black Mold”.
What music genre(s) is “Archie, Marry Me”
It is an indie pop song.
Accolades
“Archie, Marry Me” was placed at number 28 of the top 100 songs of the 2010s by Rolling Stone.
More Facts about “Archie, Marry Me”
Though the song did not make it to any major charts around the world, it was still the breakthrough song for the band. A lot of industry critics even placed it among the best tracks of 2014.
Over the years, many cover versions of the song have been released. Notable among them is one from an internationally acclaimed guitarist, singer and songwriter, Ben Gibbard. According to Ben, “Archie, Marry Me” was his favorite song in 2014.
