My Oh My

Album: Cedar + Gold (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The Cedar + Gold album was inspired by Prettyman's high-profile split from Jason Mraz. The couple dated on-and-off for years before getting engaged in 2010. When they split up the following year, Prettyman channeled her frustrations into songs like "I Was Gonna Marry You" and "Say Anything," which was cathartic for her.

    On "My Oh My," she explains how Mraz had her "heart on a string," which was why she kept letting him come back to her:

    You're getting under my skin
    Don't know why I’m always letting you in
    Just when I got my life together again,
    Here you are standing there
  • Prettyman wrote this song with Better Than Ezra lead singer Kevin Griffin. In our interview with Griffin, he said, "When I was working with Tristan, she was going through some emotional stuff, famously with Jason Mraz. She wanted to address the 'love is a battlefield' kind of thing, so that's where we went."

    When Griffin writes with an artist, he comes in with different song ideas that suit that person's style and mood. In this case, he came in with the rhythm and they hashed out the song in about 30 minutes. "The whole song is this journey through your first love and breaking up and thinking you'll never see him again and there's no chance and then they come back into your life," she explained to CBS. "And you're like, 'Oh man, I still like you. What's the deal with that? Then it ends up being this amazing thing. And then you're back together and then you're broken up again. Why do we keep going back to things that aren't good for us? How much is going to be enough? How hurt do we have to get to get over it finally?"
  • The upside to Prettyman's split with Mraz was that it triggered a burst of creativity. After about four years of writer's block, she came up with an album's worth of songs pretty quickly after the breakup.
  • The video, directed by Jay Martin, features a white Bengal tiger to represent the "cat and mouse" game of love that plays out in this song.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Wolfgang Van Halen

Wolfgang Van HalenSongwriter Interviews

Wolfgang Van Halen breaks down the songs on his debut album, Mammoth WVH, and names the definitive Van Halen songs from the Sammy and Dave eras.

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."

Francis Rossi of Status Quo

Francis Rossi of Status QuoSongwriter Interviews

Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.