I'm kind of surprised that this song has not yet drawn a comment. First and foremost, the "Mary" strikes me as very probably meaning Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Christian religions (more on that in a moment). But a quick Googling pulled up a couple of references (e.g., http://www.nndb.com/people/481/000024409/) stating that Phair is a Scientologist. Perhaps the references are wrong, or perhaps Phair was raised Catholic (the religion with the most devotion to Mary, and very common in Chicago), and retains some sliver of Catholic belief?
Evidence that "Mary" refers to the mother of Jesus includes the prayer-like requests for assistance ("Help me Mary please"), especially when coupled with a request to bring peace ("I'm asking, will you, Mary, please / Temper my hatred with peace"), which sounds typically Catholic. Of course, maybe "Mary" refers to someone (or something?) else (cf. The Beatles' "Let It Be", about which many think "Mary" refers to marijuana).
Anyway, to me the song is about getting mixed up with so-called friends who you learn are bad for you--they use you, mistreat you for sport, say mean things about you, show no respect for your home or property, and generally enjoy seeing how badly they can treat you before their utter contempt for you makes you do something about it. Popular culture is full of stories of anti-social groups who pick out a loner / loser to befriend, just for the sport of abusing the "friend". I think Phair is singing about such experiences, and/or maybe complaining that she has some "friends" of this sort.
The fame part does stump me just a tad. Is it a Joplin-esque request (cf. "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz / My friends all have Porsches, I must make aments")? Is it a suggestion that these "friends" would be devastated to see her achieve success? I don't know.
@NAwlinsContrarian The fame part is just her wanting to become famous.
She imagines her abusive pseudo friends running to the flame of fame and being more respectful hoping to benefit in some way from her success.
@NAwlinsContrarian The fame part is just her wanting to become famous.
She imagines her abusive pseudo friends running to the flame of fame and being more respectful hoping to benefit in some way from her success.
@NAwlinsContrarian The 'fame' reference hints that this song is not a character study but a real episode in Liz' early life. ie 'help me turn these ugly experiences and dark feelings into something creative and successful.' The fans lapped it up - that first album especially - as she requested.
@NAwlinsContrarian The 'fame' reference hints that this song is not a character study but a real episode in Liz' early life. ie 'help me turn these ugly experiences and dark feelings into something creative and successful.' The fans lapped it up - that first album especially - as she requested.
I'm kind of surprised that this song has not yet drawn a comment. First and foremost, the "Mary" strikes me as very probably meaning Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Christian religions (more on that in a moment). But a quick Googling pulled up a couple of references (e.g., http://www.nndb.com/people/481/000024409/) stating that Phair is a Scientologist. Perhaps the references are wrong, or perhaps Phair was raised Catholic (the religion with the most devotion to Mary, and very common in Chicago), and retains some sliver of Catholic belief?
Evidence that "Mary" refers to the mother of Jesus includes the prayer-like requests for assistance ("Help me Mary please"), especially when coupled with a request to bring peace ("I'm asking, will you, Mary, please / Temper my hatred with peace"), which sounds typically Catholic. Of course, maybe "Mary" refers to someone (or something?) else (cf. The Beatles' "Let It Be", about which many think "Mary" refers to marijuana).
Anyway, to me the song is about getting mixed up with so-called friends who you learn are bad for you--they use you, mistreat you for sport, say mean things about you, show no respect for your home or property, and generally enjoy seeing how badly they can treat you before their utter contempt for you makes you do something about it. Popular culture is full of stories of anti-social groups who pick out a loner / loser to befriend, just for the sport of abusing the "friend". I think Phair is singing about such experiences, and/or maybe complaining that she has some "friends" of this sort.
The fame part does stump me just a tad. Is it a Joplin-esque request (cf. "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz / My friends all have Porsches, I must make aments")? Is it a suggestion that these "friends" would be devastated to see her achieve success? I don't know.
@NAwlinsContrarian The fame part is just her wanting to become famous. She imagines her abusive pseudo friends running to the flame of fame and being more respectful hoping to benefit in some way from her success.
@NAwlinsContrarian The fame part is just her wanting to become famous. She imagines her abusive pseudo friends running to the flame of fame and being more respectful hoping to benefit in some way from her success.
@NAwlinsContrarian The 'fame' reference hints that this song is not a character study but a real episode in Liz' early life. ie 'help me turn these ugly experiences and dark feelings into something creative and successful.' The fans lapped it up - that first album especially - as she requested.
@NAwlinsContrarian The 'fame' reference hints that this song is not a character study but a real episode in Liz' early life. ie 'help me turn these ugly experiences and dark feelings into something creative and successful.' The fans lapped it up - that first album especially - as she requested.