Overview
"Marry You" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). Written and produced by the Smeezingtons, it serves as the record's sixth track and was released as a single outside of the United States. "Marry You" is a pop, doo-wop and soul song. The recording focuses on spontaneous marriage and therefore, since its release, has frequently been used as a proposal song. "Marry You" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with some complimenting its production and its reminiscence of 1960s pop style. Some criticized a perceived lack of creativity.
Despite not being released as a single in the US, the song charted at number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100. It entered the top fifteen of most international markets, reaching number 10 on the Canadian Hot 100, number eight in Australia, the top five in New Zealand, and number 11 in the United Kingdom. The single was certified four times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and three times by Music Canada (MC). Mars has performed "Marry You" on all his tours since 2010. The song has been covered a number of times, most notably by the cast of Glee; their cover outperformed the original song by reaching number 32 on the Hot 100.
Background and release
"Marry You" is one of the eleven songs produced by the Smeezingtons, the collaboration of Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine, for Mars's debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. Lawrence explained the inspiration behind the song in an interview with American Songwriter stating, "[w]e had this image of a slow-mo video in Vegas of a couple running, and she's in her gown and he's in his tux, the wedding party is behind them. This sort of crazy, daring, wedding feeling". Lawrence was surprised at the impact of the song after watching some YouTube videos. He stated that "[w]e always thought it was a good song and catchy, but we didn't think it would affect pop culture the way that it has. The first time we saw one of those YouTube videos ... we were almost in tears ... the power of what it is we can create. These ideas, words, and lyrics and how they can get into the fabric of society and affect people's lives in such an amazing way." In an interview with Idolator Bruno Mars said that the song had its beginning by "just playing the chords," and then freestyling the lyrics "I think I wanna marry you!". He continued, "you're in Vegas ...
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