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Rod Stewart - Maggie May

Rod Stewart - Maggie May Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Every Picture Tells A Story
Released: 1971

Maggie May Lyrics

Wake up, Maggie I think I got something to say to you
It's late September and I really should be back at school
I know I keep you amused, but I feel I'm being used
Oh, Maggie, I couldn't have tried any more
You led me away from home
Just to save you from being alone
You stole my heart, and that's what really hurts

The morning sun, when it's in your face really shows your age
But that don't worry me none in my eyes, you're everything

I laughed at all of your jokes
My love you didn't need to coax
Oh, Maggie, I couldn't have tried any more

You led me away from home
Just to save you from being alone
You stole my soul, and that's a pain I can do without.

All I needed was a friend to lend a guiding hand
But you turned into a lover, and, mother, what a lover you wore me out
All you did was wreck my bed
And, in the morning, kick me in the head
Oh, Maggie, I couldn't have tried any more
You led me away from home
'Cause you didn't want to be alone
You stole my heart, I couldn't leave you if I tried

I suppose I could collect my books and get on back to school
Or steal my daddy's cue and make a living out of playing pool
Or find myself a rock 'n' roll band
That needs a helping hand
Oh, Maggie, I wish I'd never seen your face
You made a first-class fool out of me
But I'm as blind as a fool can be
You stole my heart, but I love you anyway

Maggie I wish that I'd never seen your face
I'll get a ride home one of these days

Writer/s: QUITTENTON, MARTIN / STEWART, ROD
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Maggie May Song Chart

This song is about the woman who deflowered Stewart when he was 16. In the January 2007 issue of Q magazine, Stewart said: "Maggie May was more or less a true story, about the first woman I had sex with, at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival. It nearly got left off because the label said it didn't have a melody. I said, 'Well, we've run out of time now, these are all the tracks we've recorded. They said, Alright, then, bring it on."

The name "Maggie May" does not occur in the song; Rod borrowed the title from a Liverpool folk song about a Lime Street prostitute.

Stewart liked the play on words the title created, sometimes introducing the song by saying, "This is 'Maggie May' - sometimes she did, sometimes she didn't."

In his memoir Rod: The Autobiography, Stewart provided details of the experience that led to this song. Wrote Stewart: "At 16, I went to the Beaulieu Jazz Festival in the New Forest. I'd snuck in with some mates via an overflow sewage pipe. And there on a secluded patch of grass, I lost my not-remotely-prized virginity with an older (and larger) woman who'd come on to me very strongly in the beer tent. How much older, I can't tell you - but old enough to be highly disappointed by the brevity of the experience."

Remarkably, there is video of Stewart at the festival .

Stewart's record company didn't think this was a hit, so they released it as the B-side of "Reason To Believe." Disc jockeys liked "Maggie" better, so they played it as the single instead. The first station to flip the single and play it as the A-side was WOKY in Milwaukee.

Every Picture Tells A Story was Stewart's third solo album, and the one that made him a superstar. It was recorded at Morgan Sound Studios in Willesden with drummer Mickey Waller, guitarist Martin Quittenton, and Stewart's Faces mate Ronnie Wood among the musicians.

Stewart got the idea for the song during a US tour with the Faces. He completed the song with Quittenton, who came up with the intro and wrote the chords. The song came together quickly in the studio, helped along by the Ray Jackson mandolin contribution - Jackson had been hired to perform on the song "Mandolin Wind," which is why he was available. Stewart asked Jackson to play something they might use to end the song, which he improvised on the spot.

Quittenton, who is listed as the song's co-writter along with Stewart, told the Daily Mail: "We didn’t think it was very good. Never in anyone’s wildest dreams was it a Pop standard."

Quittenton said that when the song became a hit, he was working in a record shop for £7 a week. His royalties for the song would eventually amount to about £25,000 a year. He declined Stewart's offer to join the Faces, and left the music business a short time later after suffering a nervous breakdown. Quittenton also co-wrote Stewart's hit "You Wear It Well."

This became a huge hit in England and America, topping both the UK and US charts at the same time. Every Picture Tells A Story was also the #1 album on both sides of the Atlantic, making him the first artist to have the #1 song and album in both the US and UK simultaneously. Stewart's success in the UK was expected, as he had a following there as a member of The Faces, but he was little known in America before "Maggie May" took off.

Stewart was the lead singer of The Faces when this was released. He put out solo albums while he was with the band because of contract obligations. When this became a hit, Faces shows were billed as "The Faces with Rod Stewart." He became the focus of the group.

Ray Jackson, a British musician who played in the band Lindisfarne, played the mandolin on this song and a few others for Stewart. In 2003, Jackson threatened legal action against Stewart, claiming he deserved a writing credit for his contribution. Jackson, who says he made just the standard £15 session fee for his work, stated: "I am convinced that my contribution to Maggie May, which occurred in the early stages of my career when I was just becoming famous for my work with Lindisfarne, was essential to the success of the record."

Stewart employed Jackson on subsequent recordings, but didn't hear about his beef with the composer credit until the '80s. Stewart's retort (through a spokesman): "As is always the case in the studio, any musical contributions he may have made were fully paid for at the time as 'work-for-hire.'"

Adding insult is Jackson's credit on the album notes, which reads: "The mandolin was played by the mandolin player in Lindisfarne. The name slips my mind."

Jackson never brought the case to court, but his threat did illuminate his contribution and help publicize his artistic endeavors.

In October 1971 Stewart became the first artist in history to hold all four #1 positions in the British and American singles and albums charts. While "Maggie May" topped the singles tally in both territories, Every Picture Tells A Story achieved the same feat on the album charts.

Stewart moved to America a few years after this came out. He was doing very well there, but also wanted to avoid the huge taxes England levied on high-income entertainers. This was around the same time The Rolling Stones left England for tax reasons. Their album Exile on Main St. is a reference to their "tax exile" status.