Soul Tracks

1978 proved to be a tryin' year for Marvin Gaye, it signaled the demise of his 12 year marriage to Anna Gordy, sister of Motown chieftain Berry Gordy.As part of the divorce settlement, Anna Gordy was to receive half the royalties earned from Marvin's next album.Upset, Marvin went into the studio and put his frustrations and anger on wax. Here, My Dear is a deep, dark and highly personal album chronicling Marvin's love affair and bitter divorce. 'I Meet A Little Girl,' one the songs recorded for the highly overlooked album, found Marvin reminiscing over his 12 year relationship with Anna. In classic doo wop style Marvin's falsetto wails about how Anna blew his mind and eventually caused his tears to flow. If Marvin were alive today, I can picture him making an apperance on HBO's Def Poetry Jam standing before a crowd too young to remember when Here, My Dear was released and reciting his orginial composition 'I Met A Little Girl'. In essence the song is truly poetry in motion. Peep the sweet bitter lyrics:

I met a little girl, sure was fine
Pretty little thing just about blew my mind
She took me home and made love to me
I knew right then and there this is where I wanted to be

Most of my life I had been all, all alone
And you're so sweet to me, don't think I'll ever roam

And then one day as time will pass
I had this feeling that our love would last
Nothing could go wrong and it seemed everything I did
Seemed to please you, all the heartaches you hid

Then one night after we made it, and we were through
That's when I decided I wanted to marry you

Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife
To love, hold and cherish for the rest of your life?
I do, yes I do, I do darlin''
Cause I love you

1964

Once you really loved me
Once I really loved you

1976

Then time would change you
As time would really change me

We thought our love would stand the test of time
And as I sing this song right now
I wonder today, today
If you're a friend of mine

Cry, cry, cry, I have done some crying
Woman, you have caused my tears to flow
Cry, cry, cry, do you cry about me?
Do you think about the kind of love we had?

Hal le hallelejah
Hal le lu i'm free
Hal le hallelejah
Hal le lu i'm free