# Brandy, you’re a fine girl. But when did you live? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 15, 2024, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235 "2024-07-15T00:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/261 "2024-07-23T16:22:59Z")
Sorry for the dead photo, that’s what I get for ‘hotlinking.’ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/262 "2024-07-23T16:40:29Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Sorry for the dead photo, that’s what I get for ‘hotlinking.’. I’m glad you posted it and I saw it before it disappeared into the aether. it fit perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/263 "2024-07-23T17:45:17Z")
I want to see it! I want to see it! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/264 "2024-07-23T21:05:46Z")
[![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxCVbUNsskkXO2YdDq6Rb2q28LaDpdkhvS5g&s) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxCVbUNsskkXO2YdDq6Rb2q28LaDpdkhvS5g&s) ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/265 "2024-07-24T15:35:25Z")
So, while we’re on 1970’s songs about the sea and sea-faring men, How about Roger Whittaker’s [The Last Farewell](https://youtu.be/LEYOMptJhUI?si=QxKQAsYCju8cOZWn)? 1700’s? 1800’s? World War 2? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/266 "2024-07-24T16:14:53Z")
The original poem is set in the 19th century, but this song, like Brandy, is timeless. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/267 "2024-07-25T15:43:43Z")
Not the poles. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/268 "2024-07-25T16:22:09Z")
“My ship lies rigged and ready in the harbor”—definitely a sail-powered vessel. “I’ve heard there’s a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well.”—Napoleonic wars. “I shall smell again the fragrance of these islands.”—South Seas, probably Tahiti or vicinity. Late 18th–early 19th century. The Battle of Trafalgar was in 1805. ---
**Author:** ![truthseeker3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e68b1a/32.png) [@truthseeker3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthseeker3)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/269 "2024-07-27T18:39:20Z")
Columbo voice: just one more thing What ultimately happens to Brandy? Does she really end up alone and bitter, as one poster suggests? Of course, the song doesn’t say, but lately I find myself wondering who narrates a poem about (1) the eponymous Brandy (2) the unnamed object of her affections (3) some (indeterminate number of) other sailors giving her the eye. I like to think it’s somebody who’s clever enough to make a move as soon as Brandy starts to wonder if a wish on the ocean is really better than a smile at home. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/270 "2024-07-29T19:18:48Z")
Brandy still walks alone but perchance with a young son in tow, named for St Brendan the patron saint of navigators and sailors. The town is silent on this matter. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/271 "2024-07-29T21:51:55Z")
> [@chela](#): > > St Brendan Or St. John Francis Regis. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235.md?page=13)