"M is for Martha" - The Accused

First and foremost, I'd like to dedicate this post to Andy. Mostly because he helped me discover the happy ending of what I'm about to disclose to you, tiny audience.


As a few of you know, I've always hated my name. I was made fun of it ever since I can remember, I've overheard way too many conversations of, "That's her name? Really?" and quite frankly, I've never been that excited that the only other girls alive with my name are 80+ years old or dead. I mean, surely there are a few names when you Google image search them, you get the following:

 Death

 

Martha is not the name that comes to mind when I think of sexy, good looking, funny, or just fun. No -ny, just f.u.n. Immediately I think of wrinkles, dusty fake flowers, pinched cheeks, wheelchairs, vibrant floral patterns, obesity, and stale twinkies from the snack drawer.

But you know what, it's not even about that.
This inner dislike for my name isn't even about the FACT that my name sake is forever rebuked in the Bible by Deity. If only my mom had chosen Mary, I'd be forever blessed and forever attached to the oldies group Peter, Paul, and Mary (yes, those are the names of my 2 brothers). Thank goodness for that song Leaving On A Jet Plane, right?

When it comes down to it, it's more about this FACT: I'm named after a bearded lady, also known as my great grandmother.

But whatever. I've been dealing with it for almost 23 years now. It's to the point where I've stopped wishing for a name change and I only think about it when someone mentions anything about my name. I've been getting a lot of, "Oh, I LOVE the name Martha!" comments lately. But I usually don't believe them, mainly because of the trend in baby names these days: completely made up or super old fashioned (i.e. Brashlynn and Eleanor).

So even though my name may be damned, bring images of haggish fat ladies to mind, or just remind you of me since I may be the only Martha from your generation that you know, there have been many a great band and songwriter that have sung about Martha.

And for your listening pleasure, here is the playlist I'd like to dedicate to...well, myself. It's my blog, and I do what I want.

Tom Waits - Martha 
This may be the prettiest saddest song of all time. Proof. I wonder if this will happen to me someday. Me as Martha, not Tom Waits.

The Beatles - Martha My Dear
So catchy, such good advice for me right now.

Smashing Pumpkins - For Martha
Excellent, of course.

Loudon Wainwright III - Pretty Little Martha
Personal favorite.

The Allman Brothers - Little Martha
Beautiful instrumental.

The Accused - M is for Martha
Probably my favorite intro EVER. (I won't be offended if you turn it off right afterwards). 

The Battle Royale - Oh Martha
Not half bad, really. And oh, the lyrics.

Neil Diamond - Kentucky Woman
This counts :)