Maggie

Album: Going Somewhere (2001)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this song, Colin Hay (best known as the frontman for Men At Work), sings about a girl he grows up with who presumably kills herself, leaving him a note that reads:

    Hey, darlin' boy
    Don't you cry for me
    I am forever yours
    Now that I am free

    We'll be together
    Throw stones into the sea
    There'll be no others there
    Just you and me


    He dreams about her, thinking of the day they can be together, throwing stones into the sea.

    It's a song that demonstrates Hay's prowess for telling a poignant story, which made his solo shows a big draw.
  • In our 2017 interview with Colin Hay, he said that "Maggie" is a real person, but he made up the story. "The person was this girl that I knew when I was young when I lived in Scotland," he said. "I was sitting in my house in Los Angeles about 20 years ago. I hadn't written a song for a while, and I was feeling a little guilty. I was feeling like I hadn't really been working on songs like I should have. It was a Sunday and I thought, 'Well, it's unlikely that I'm going to go to church.' So, I just thought, 'I better write a song. I'll try to write a song.'

    I sat down on this chair and I had a guitar. I just thought about this girl that I knew when I was young. She came into my mind and then I just wrote down the song in about 40 minutes. And while I was writing the song, the verses, I was weeping convulsively.

    So, it was just a story that came from somebody real, but the actual body of the story is fiction."
  • Hay has described the real Maggie as an "older woman" he liked in Scotland - she was 9 years old and he was 8.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Taylor Dayne

Taylor DayneSongwriter Interviews

Taylor talks about "The Machine" - the hits, the videos and Clive Davis.

Queen

QueenFact or Fiction

Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler talks about their first album since 1991 and explains what's really going on in "Pretty In Pink."

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Kerry Livgren of Kansas

Kerry Livgren of KansasSongwriter Interviews

In this talk from the '80s, the Kansas frontman talks turning to God and writing "Dust In The Wind."

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."