Somehow, someway, there are always songs I've missed over the years. I often play a Yacht Rock station while I work on a quilt. Every once in a while, there comes this song I'd never heard before. Sounded a bit more current, and the voice was familiar. I looked at the player, and saw it was Sade's "Maureen."

What a great track! I honestly don't know how, being a casual fan of Sade, that I'd missed this song! It really fits into an 80s playlist as well as the Yacht Rock station.

In November 1985, Sade Adu described the song to the New York Times:

“‘Maureen’ is personally my favorite song on the album, because it’s about a friend who died five years ago,” she continued. “I didn’t want it to be sad or self-indulgent but to represent the joy and good times we had together. I think of it as a happy tribute. The song came almost like magic. It was written in two hours.”

The song sits at the end of their 1985 Promise album.

Another note: The song’s opening percussion was later sampled into Jus Jam’s “Springtime” in 2018.

RJOrion said:

youre on a roll lately... "Maureen" has ALWAYS been by far, my favorite Sade' song... i thought it was just me noticing the greatness of that joint...the marriage of her voice, the conga drums, and piano throughout the song, always moved me

Yeah, I was reading how they recorded the songs live, and often times the six band members were at a mixing board, at the same time, and they were responsible for hitting their own effects (like an echo, or a reverb) for a certain section. I think that was some of the unsung genius of Sade's music. I remember Anita Baker talking about the rhythm sections of her music being recorded live (drums, bass, guitar, and vocals) with some overdubs later.

There's just so much goodness in "Maureen." Sort of a dark tale, but a joyful celebration. Janet Jackson had the same approach with "Together Again," whereas Madonna, MJ, & others always seem to go somber ("In This Life," "Gone Too Soon" respectively).

I've heard most yacht rock songs by this point, but somehow "Maureen" kept coming into the mix and it intrigued me so much, being "new" to me. Makes me wanna go back and listen to Promise, which I'm not sure I've ever listened to in full.

purplepolitician said:

Was about to go on a rambling fest, so I'll just leave it at = whole album, Maureen (she could'a sang "you'll never meet my new friends" til the end of time n I would b fine), Tar Baby, jam .

And I noticed she used her own name in the song. I'd never noticed that before.