Mara and Me

this song means my friday just got better

To me this song deals with Max's inability to find his own identity within a world of conformists. The kings of leon reference shows his opinion towards bands which satisfy the mass media as they sing about "girls" rather than the true issues of life. The title of the song is thus a criticism and has nothing to do with its meaning. He even notices his own tendency to "define himself through irony" and "write the same damn song (perhaps about girls) over and over again."

He ultimately decides that, although his identity remains unknown, conformity is not an option. After all, the "fake players (conformists)" are ignorant to both the important and the evil facets of life.

Therefore, the abovementioned reference to the "biggest gang in the world" could represent the mass media.

• The song is really a mix up of a lot of different points. So he does mention the whole gang thing but there is definitely a greater meaning perhaps metaphor to his life.

• And also when they sing "fake players are the ones who play they game (Go to sleep, go to sleep come on!)" I took that as referring to the game of hooking up with chicks, as saying that you are a "player." The only guys who try and pick up numbers of girls are "fake", therefore "fake players are the ones who play the game" and the line "go to sleep" can be a metaphor for having sex as he uses it in Spidersong saying "you got those tired eyes all the time, yea you need someone to bring you to bed" meaning she wants to sleep with someone, sexually.

• But who knows, with max bemis your always guessing

Verse about babies and guns / reference to violence = Atrocities are occurring in the World

Kings of Leon Verse = Max calling out bands / industry for not paying attention

I don't suck much less verse = Self deprecation / irony about previous verses (KOL are schmucks, they write about girls when there is all this gang violence, oh wait, I do/am doing it too - I am schmuck, oh man I hate myself)

hoplessness and charity verses = Claims his illusion of angst and hopelessness is just an excuse to not make an impact when these things are happening - yet when he thinks about making contribution (i.e. charity) he recognizes that it is superficial (bringing us back to the point his feeling of hopelessness)

Depressed verse about being at the bar again = A set up for the next verse; but basically states "I hate myself because I hate other people for doing the same thing i'm technically doing"

As you all know he has written song like this again and again, so he calls himself out for writing another self deprecating hopeless song

I cant define myself through Irony and Self deprecation (see all above, basically what he's doing) Can't deny life through alienation - he's basically using alienation as a form of suicide - riddled with self hate, he feels to ashamed to be with anyone

From the above we can see that max is stuck in this rut that is somewhat circular - he really has no choice but to be hopeless and self deprecating (hating people for doing the samething he's doing, thereby hating himself - the theme exists on "Hate everyone" too). He is stuck in the game (the twisted web that the fake players weave). The rest of the song is a call for a paradigm shift - a change from the game all the fake players play and the web we are all tangled in. A call for belief in ones phallic sense of self, opposed to the current chaos (and paradigm).

The fake players play the game. The real players CHANGE it

Anyone else with him?

The call for change in the paradigm, as oppose to just drenching the song with self deprecating Irony, is what makes it a song different from the others

Suck it high school poetry class!

This song is about the choices we make- between hopelessness & optimism, and between living with some greater purpose or not. Very personal reflections..

"everything that you do keeps me running back to you" I wonder who he's speaking to?

"mister crowley" of course, refers to the Ozzy Osbourne song.

OH and Mara is the demon who tempted Buddha with beautiful women.

The Ozzy song is a reference to Aleister Crowley.

God, the music in this song is so great. LOVE this band.

I saw them last friday (Nov. 6th) and Max said that this song mentioned "the biggest gang in the world"...I have no clue what he was talking about...

max said in a questionaire thingy about each song on the album, that MARA is referring to the international gang known as MS-13, also known as mara, who are like the most dangerous gang members in the world.