Lead singer Molly Rankin, right, and the band Alvvays.
In early January, I emailed my wife a link to a song I liked called “Monkey Tree” by the band Mother Mother.
Sara responded with a link of her own: “Here’s one for you — band out of Toronto.”
The song was “Archie, Marry Me,” released in 2014 by Canada’s Alvvays (two v’s to form the w).
I immediately loved the tune (hearing a little Debbie Harry in lead singer Molly Rankin’s beautiful voice) — and subsequently discovered that others do, too.
Here’s the original version, with the crisply edited lyrics immediately below the video (feel free to sing along as it is quite catchy). I like how in introducing the song on Q TV, Rankin spelled out the title as “Archie comma Marry Me.”
You’ve expressed explicitly your contempt for matrimony
You’ve student loans to pay and will not risk the alimony
We spend our days locked in a room content inside a bubble
And in the nighttime we go out and scour the streets for trouble
Hey hey
Marry me Archie
Hey hey
Marry me Archie
During the summer take me sailing out on the Atlantic
I won’t set my sights on other seas there is no need to panic
So honey take me by the hand and we can sign some papers
Forget the invitations, floral arrangements and bread makers
Hey hey
Marry me Archie
Hey hey
Marry me Archie
Too late to go out and
Too young to stay in
They’re talking about
Us living in sin
Hey hey
Marry me Archie
Hey hey
Marry me Archie
Hey hey
Marry me Archie
Hey hey
A-R-C-H-I-E
The lyrics didn’t clearly reveal themselves to me until I heard this scaled-down version by Ben Gibbard, lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie (and former spouse of actress Zooey Deschanel).
“I’m going to play my favorite song of the year,” he said by way of introduction.
And then Toronto’s Choir! Choir! Choir! got into the act, adding the lyric “Run away with me” as part of the chorus.
Begun in February 2011 as a “weekly drop in, no commitment singing event,” Choir! Choir! Choir! now meets twice weekly and is “open to anyone who likes to sing new arrangements of pop songs.” (If only my son’s middle school choir were so much fun.)
I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these versions.
Archie should be flattered. Archie comma marry her.
