30 Seconds To Mars: Buddha For Mary Meaning

Buddha For Mary Lyrics

A simple fear to wash you away
An open mind canceled it today
A silent song that's in your words
A different taste that's in your mind

This is the life on mars

Mary was a different girl
Had a thing for astronauts
Mary was the type of...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jun 2nd 2011 !⃝

   This is the kind of song you absolutely cannot take literally. It's entirely metaphorical, as Jared has said himself, and as every song on this album is. To the guy right before me: If that's how you interpret it that's fine, but don't assume that's what it really means. And I'm kind of insulted that you think all religion is corrupt.
   
   That aside, if you were to take it literally I have my own theory:
   Mary was a religious young girl "...was a holy girl" who was molested/raped by her priest "Father whet her appetite". This horrible experience makes her corrupt later in her life as it made her "fall apart". One of the things about this is she becomes... irresponsibly sexual "She always liked to play a lot". (From what I've been told the original line was "always likes to f- a lot")
   
   Although she hates what's happening to her "becoming everything she didn't want to be" she continues her downward spiral and falls into drugs "couldn't seem to breathe", "hallucinate and see the sky up on the wall", "liked to fly".
   
   Because of her downfall she has begun to believe that she is worth nothing, and when she is then confronted by... someone in the narrative she assumes and accepts that she will be raped and severely hurt "will you rape me now", "am I supposed to bleed". All that's happened to her has killed her once-strong religious belief "I don't believe in God".
   
   I'm not entirely sure how the chorus fits into all of this. I've personally always thought of it, or at least "Tell me did you see her face|Tell me did you smell her taste|Tell me what's the difference|Don't they all just look the same inside?", as sexual, possibly someone saying that it doesn't matter how supposedly 'pure' a person is because they're always just human and will give in eventually. I also can't explain the Buddhism references, unless Mary somehow thinks the teachings of the Buddha can help her.
   
   But I'd again like to stress that while that is all an interesting story, I'm sure the true meaning of the song is much deeper and metaphorical, as was already stated.
   Sorry for the Wall of Text.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   precioustiger

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   Oct 23rd 2008 !⃝

   Okay this is what I get out of this song. It's about a girl who was raped by her father when she was only a little girl, "Mary was a holy girl, Father wet her appetite" then she grows up going kind of crazy with drugs. Then when she is confronted with men she is kind of confused "She said, "Will you rape me now?"" and she doesn't believe in God because of what has been done to her.
   
   Basically I think it was about how those kind of things can affect our lives.
   
   I think they used the name mary because she was supposed to be a godly virgin and they wanted people to realize the main character was this kind of person until she was raped.
3. anonymous

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   Oct 17th 2012 !⃝

   Anyone think that "Buddah for Mary" sounds like "Beautiful Mary" if not heard correctly?
4. anonymous

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   Apr 30th 2012 !⃝

   I think that ppl can take the meanings literally - especially the "He said/she said" section. I,however, have a slightly different interpretation of this part.
   
   One could make a connection to colonization of "advanced" countries to developing countries - especially in terms of wanting natural resources - the developing countries are being "reassured" that they should just leave the "politics to madmen" because the "powerful" countries know what to do - but then question - "am I supposed to bleed" - it also references the religious aspect - where many colonizing countries "assume" that the religious beliefs of less developed places in the world - must be "savage" or whatnot.
   
   Anyways - just another way to possibly interpret it - thought I would share.
5. anonymous

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   Mar 3rd 2011 !⃝

   Come on you guys, that's what you got out of this song? The song is really about religion and how they are corrupted. Mary is madonna and she represents western religions and Buddha is... Buddha and he represents eastern religions. Hello????
6. anonymous

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   Jan 18th 2010 !⃝

   I believe this song cant be taken literally. It's mostly about metaphores.
   
   The father, in my perception, represents something that influences humanity and somehow manipulates and abuses it.
   
   So, it's not about a girl that got abused. It's more intense, even, than that.

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