"Maria" as written by and James Destri....
She moves like she don't care
Smooth as silk, cool as air
Ooh, it makes you wanna cry
She doesn't know your name and your heart beats like a subway train
Ooh, it makes you wanna die
Ooh, don't you wanna take her?
Wanna make her all your own?
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Latina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
I've seen this thing before
In my best friend and the boy next door
Fool for love and fool of fire
Won't come in from the rain
She's oceans running down the drain
Blue as ice and desire
Don't you wanna make her?
Ooh, don't you wanna take her home?
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Regina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
Ooh, don't you wanna break her?
Ooh, don't you wanna take her home?
She walks like she don't care
Walking on imported air
Ooh, it makes you wanna die
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Regina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Regina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Regina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
Smooth as silk, cool as air
Ooh, it makes you wanna cry
She doesn't know your name and your heart beats like a subway train
Ooh, it makes you wanna die
Ooh, don't you wanna take her?
Wanna make her all your own?
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Latina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
I've seen this thing before
In my best friend and the boy next door
Fool for love and fool of fire
Won't come in from the rain
She's oceans running down the drain
Blue as ice and desire
Don't you wanna make her?
Ooh, don't you wanna take her home?
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Regina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
Ooh, don't you wanna break her?
Ooh, don't you wanna take her home?
She walks like she don't care
Walking on imported air
Ooh, it makes you wanna die
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Regina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Regina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
Maria
You've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
Regina
Ave maria
A million and one candle lights
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First of all, Regina, a proper name. Why would another proper name be brought into the song when one is already there? Unless it were a famous iconic name such as Mona Lisa, venus, aphordite. Saying she is my venus, is a bit different from she is my regina. And let me tell you, caling a woman another's name is not the best policy, unless it is the goddess of love. To me that is as bad as when people call Debbie "Bondie."
Second, latina. Well, this is the feminine latino. This could work but there is no indication that this is specifically about a latina, like the Sanatna's Maria, the Spanish harlem Mona Lisa (see point one). Also, just calling her latina is not a bad thing but it is not the unbridled adoration that everything else is in the song. She is a million candles, makes you go insane, ave maria (a catholic song of adoration which ties into the author's catholic school background) and then added to that is "oh and latina."
So if it was "the diva," it would be:
Maria, you've gotta see her
Go insane and out of your mind
The Diva, Ave Maria
A million and one candle lights
Which makes perfect sense to me.
I have been looking for the definitive lyrical version to answer this question and have not found it. The fact that there are two different versions and both have other errors suggest that these are not from the author and interpretations which are subjective and thus open to scrutiny. Listening to it, I can hear all three suggestions. I also think it may be different for each chorus. As much as I don't think "regina" fits into the song, Deb does seem to be singing that the first time through. The subtle change would also fit in this song as there are little lyrical twists elsewhere.
I once read someone say it is about a drug but I don't think so, insomuch as the infatuation with the unattainable goddess is not a drug. We have all been there or seen the complete loss of sanity over a girl. The POV is the presumed dowdy friend of such a girl, an impartial observer for whom this is old hat. Ironic juxtaposition that Deb Harry was certainly that girl to thousands.
On the dispute over Regina / Latina / Diva etc it's obviously 'Regina'. First because that is obviously what she says and send that Latina doesn't mean anything per se.
'Ave Maria' means 'Hail Mary' in Latin - the first line of a well known Catholic prayer 'Hail Mary, full of grace..'. Regina means 'Queen' in Latin and is the title of Mary now she is in heaven. There is another well known Catholic prayer called 'Regina Coeli' in Latin - 'Queen of Heaven' or the prayer better known as 'Hail, Holy Queen'. So that's why the 'Regina, Ave Maria' hangs together in the song - it's bringing in the bit about the Virgin Mary and how great she is. If there's anyone any doubt that sometimes she might be singing 'Latina', then perhaps that is a clue that she's speaking in Latin??
Anyway, cracking song!
I agree “The Diva” would make more sense. Now that I’ve read all the above arguments, I even think “Regina” would have been a better choice. Members of Blondie may be kicking themselves that they didn’t think of those words. But in that third instance, at least, it’s clear as a bell “Latina.”
Ethnicity is a rather trivial detail for the songwriter to throw in, unless we assume someone (the writer, the guy in the song, or the woman singing it) has a real thing for Latinas. Then again, this is the same band that gave us “Kung Fu Girls,” which emphasizes to an uncomfortable degree that the woman in the song is Chinese. A few decades passed between “Kung Fu Girls” and “Maria,” and attitudes about race shifted, but Blondie does not strike me as a band that bows to political correctness.
I’m not sure Debbie Harry is singing “Latina” every time. There might be a deliberate switch, as you say. Hell, it’s even possible that, the third time, she just sang “Latina” by mistake and no one bothered to fix it. But the word she sings at that moment is clear.
While Regina is a proper name, that's not what it means here. Next to the Latin words "ave maria", it should probably be interpreted as the female form of the Latin word "rex", which means king. In other words, Maria is considered a queen.
Latina also makes sense, as I'd consider Maria a common name in South America.
i liked it ages ago but i've just discovered some of the real lyrics, and on first impression it seems to be about "meetin ave maria"- something about religion and belief? help please!