She's Got To Be a Saint

"She's Got to Be a Saint" is a song about a woman who lets her man walk all over her; he repays her in the end by sneaking out as she sleeps. One wonders whether the buyers who made it a number one hit in 1973 (and a crossover pop hit as well) heard the song as a celebration of devoted womanhood rather than the depressing tale of insensitivity that it is. In any case, the song offers a degree of hard realism that holds a certain appeal. Price's age is creeping into his voice at this stage even though he was still a very popular singer with many good years ahead of him. The album She's Got to Be a Saint is made in the smoky pop and country-pop style Price began to favor in the '60s, with lots of strings and slow tempos. Price adds a touch of big-band swing to "Goin' Away" and "I Keep Looking Back" with their soft horn sections, and remakes the Louvin Brothers' "My Baby's Gone" as a mournful pop ballad worthy of Ed Ames or Reprise-era Frank Sinatra. The only unusual cut is Wayne P. Walker's "The Sweetest Tie," and only because it borrows some of its melody from "Cold, Cold Heart." She's Got to Be a Saint is short on variety but nicely consistent for fans of Price's ballad style.