They Call the Wind Maria "popular hit singles at the record stores" that year. It has since become a standard, performed by many notable singers across several genres of popular music. A striking feature of the song in the original orchestration (also used in many cover versions), is a driving, staccato rhythm, played on the string instruments, that evokes a sense of restless motion. It has been called "Paint Your Wagon"'s "best known song" and "rousing but plaintive." Musicologist Stephen Citron wrote, "Perhaps the most unusual song in the score is a beautiful ballad of lonely prospectors hungering for their women, "They Call the Wind
They Call the Wind Maria which is pronounced . The lines throughout the song end in feminine rhymes mostly using the "hard i" sound /aɪ/, echoing the stress pattern and vowel sound of the name "Maria". American singer, songwriter and producer Mariah Carey was named after this song. Broadway and recording star Robert Goulet considered it "a personal favorite", and a version by Jack Barlow charted at number 58 on Hot Country Songs. Other notable acts who have performed the song include: They Call the Wind Maria "They Call the Wind Maria" is an American popular song with lyrics written by Alan J. Lerner and