Mara and Me

Album: Say Anything (2009)
Play Video
  • There are babies with guns beheading their friends
    In shopping malls around the world
    Yet somehow the Kings of Leon still find time to write songs about girls
    I don't suck much less
    At least those dudes have no illusions of angst and hopelessness
    And if I claim revolutionary or I give to charity
    They'll all know it's a plea for someone like me
    Disgusted with lies and cut down by their own beatnik poetry
    I'm just one man with no face and no friends
    God in this dank Brooklyn bar I can feel it again
    It's eating me

    Wait a second
    I can't write the same damn song over and over again

    I can't define myself through irony and self deprecation
    I can't deny myself being alive through my alienation

    Everything that you do
    Keeps me running back to you
    Can't give up, live the dream
    Even if I don't believe
    But we can't afford to surrender
    We can't afford

    Fake players and the twisted web they weave, oh
    I contend that the coming holocaust
    Will be of those who choose to believe
    In anything but a phallic sense of self
    Hang alone in the attic, tied up tightly with your father's belt

    You bathe in blood like mister Crowley
    Your cost, their loss. Their memory haunts me
    I stand opposed to chaos that you chose
    New heart, new bones
    Am I not alone?

    Fake players are the ones who play the game
    Fake players are the ones who play the game
    Fake players are the ones who play the game
    Fake players are the ones who play the game Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Shreya from Princeton, NjDuring a live chat, Max Bemis also mentioned the use of "The Kings of Leons" and "Mara". He finds it ironic that The Kings of Leon (who write happier, unjaded songs) are on the same record label as Say Anything (which mentions many controversial, mundane, and crazy things). "Mara" is a gang. "There are babies with guns beheading their friends in shopping malls around the world.
    Yet somehow the kings of leon, still have time to write songs about girls" is used in the song to amplify the point Bemis is trying to make about Say Anything's type of songs in general. "Those dudes" that are mentioned as having "no illusions of angst and hopelessness" are The Kings of Leon.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire

Verdine White of Earth, Wind & FireSongwriter Interviews

The longtime bassist of Earth, Wind & Fire discusses how his band came to do a holiday album, and offers insight into some of the greatest dance/soul tunes of all-time.

Edie Brickell

Edie BrickellSongwriter Interviews

Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Rick Springfield

Rick SpringfieldSongwriter Interviews

Rick has a surprising dark side, a strong feminine side and, in a certain TV show, a naked backside. But he still hasn't found Jessie's Girl.

George Harrison

George HarrisonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.

Hawksley Workman

Hawksley WorkmanSongwriter Interviews

One of Canada's most popular and eclectic performers, Hawksley tells stories about his oldest songs, his plentiful side projects, and the ways that he keeps his songwriting fresh.