My Secret Career 38: It’s Maria’s Heart by The Mahoneys

I knew when I wrote “It’s Maria’s Heart” that it was clearly the best song I’d written to date. I immediately brought it in to rehearsal and One Man Out got to work on it.

But the song was never right. The drummer couldn’t handle it. He was as green behind the kit as I was with a guitar slung across my shoulders. The other two members were great musicians. They tried to buoy us but more often than not the song defeated us.

Then we swapped drummers and became The Mahoneys.

The song took off. Literally. It felt like I was strapped to the head of a rocket. The other three guys were so assured I could just make little stabs at my guitar, adding texture to something that was already full. We would have sounded great if I was just singing and there was only one guitar. The overall effect was devastating. 

If you listen, you will hear us kind of botch the ending. But I don’t even care. It sounds exactly like we intended it to sound. I only wish more people could have heard us in all our glory.

It’s Maria’s Heart, by The Mahoneys, off 1994’s “Live From The 20th Century”. 

In a strange twist of fate, Jeff Bibbo of Granite State grunge/jam legends Groovechild heard an early acoustic version of the song on a cassette I made for my sister, who played it for him in NH where she lived at the time. Nearly thirty years after it was written, Groovechild recorded it and released it right before Jeff passed away. Their version is wildly different from mine, and I am very proud that it stuck in his mind enough to record it. I got to sing it onstage at the concert organized to honor his passing.

Here’s Groovechild’s take on Maria’s Heart.