Sienna

Album: Submarine (2024)
Charted: 74
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Inspired by the breakup of The Marias founders María Zardoya and Josh Conway, "Sienna" imagines the life of a child they never had.
  • The song traces a bittersweet alternate reality, a life where love endured, where the couple built a life together, and perhaps had a daughter named Sienna with qualities drawn from both parents: free-spirited, sensitive, and imaginative.

    "Sienna would have acted like you, she would have jumped in the pool just like you, and she would have sang to all her pets like I do... but because we broke up, Sienna will never exist," Zardoya lamented to Variety. "And so at the very end where I sing, 'See her face in the forest, then it disappears,' it's like seeing the future you wanted just completely vanish."
  • Why Sienna? On the Zach Sang Show, María said the choice was purely her own: "I was like, but if I did have a child with this person, I would name her Sienna."

    It wasn't a jointly agreed-upon name, just a quiet, private thought that became the seed for the song.
  • The track is the closing song of The Marias' second album, Submarine, whose emotional narrative arc was shaped by Zardoya and Conway's personal breakup. If "No One Noticed" was the soundtrack to quietly navigating heartbreak, "Sienna" is its quiet, almost spectral cousin: a meditation on futures imagined and then lost.
  • The Marias performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. María Zardoya was joined by a young girl representing Sienna, with nine additional children providing ethereal backing harmonies in a smoke-filled, almost dreamlike staging.
  • The Jimmy Kimmel performance gave the song a push onto the charts, debuting at #77 on the Billboard Hot 100 for September 20, 2025, over 15 months after it first appeared on their Submarine album.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gentle Giant

Gentle GiantSongwriter Interviews

An interview with Ray and Derek Shulman of the progressive rock band Gentle Giant to discuss counterpoint, polyrhythms, and... Bon Jovi.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")Song Writing

Nick made some of the biggest videos on MTV, including "The Final Countdown," "Heaven" and "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)."

Bass Player Scott Edwards

Bass Player Scott EdwardsSong Writing

Scott was Stevie Wonder's bass player before becoming a top session player. Hits he played on include "I Will Survive," "Being With You" and "Sara Smile."

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Kim Thayil of SoundgardenSongwriter Interviews

Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.