"Sanctified Lady" is a song by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 singer Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

, released posthumously in 1985

1985 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1985.-January–March:*January 1 - The newest music video channel, VH-1, debuts on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV...

 by Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

.

The title of the track was originally "Sanctified Pussy

Pussy

Pussy is an English word meaning:* Cat* The human female genitalia, for the slang term related to genital anatomy.* Pejoratively, cowardice or weakness as an insult in general- Etymology :The origins of the word are unknown...

", a phrase which Gaye can be heard mumbling during certain parts while the chorus chants "sanctified lady". The song was one of several outtakes from the Midnight Love

Midnight Love

Midnight Love is the final studio album recorded and issued by American soul singer Marvin Gaye and was the singer's first release from Columbia months after leaving his longtime label, Motown. It claimed the number one slot on NME Album of the Year....

sessions and remained unfinished due to the singer's death in 1984 at the age of 44.

Guitarist and longtime collaborator Gordon Banks

Gordon Banks

Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff ....

 (Gaye's brother by marriage) helped to finish the track by adding a choir and an electronic beat throughout the song, plus a vocodered

Vocoder

A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...

 chant of the title at the beginning.

"Sanctified Lady" was issued as the first release from the singer's posthumous album Dream of a Lifetime

Dream of a Lifetime

Dream of a Lifetime was the first posthumously released compilation of music by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. It spawned the #2 R&B hit, "Sanctified Lady".-Background:...

, and despite the mumbling of Gaye's original title became a modest hit upon its release, reaching #2 on the US R&B singles chart

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

.

Credits

• Lead vocals by Marvin Gaye and Gordon Banks (vocoder
  Vocoder
  A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
  
  )
• Background vocals by The Waters
• Instrumentation by Marvin Gaye and Gordon Banks (musician)
• Produced by Gordon Banks