Marissa Nadler is an American dream folk musician and singer-songwriter. Sh… Read Full Bio ↴Marissa Nadler is an American dream folk musician and singer-songwriter. She plays six string guitar, 12 string guitar, piano, ukelele, banjo, and voice.
Nadler studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she began her performing career after writing songs for many years.

The foundation of her sound is her haunting mezzo-soprano, and a delicate 6-string acoustic guitar, often accompanied by a variety of instruments, including electric guitar, theremin, and piano. Nadler writes strange, yet classic, melancholy songs. Her voice is often bathed in a wash of reverb and space echo and creates a ghostly, atmospheric feeling to the music.

She has American Gothic leanings; her songs often take place in an imagined, idealistic time with a cast of characters of her own creation.

Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marissa-Nadler/300932499775
Bandcamp: http://marissanadler.bandcamp.com/

Mary Come Alive
Marissa Nadler Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Mary, come alive
I brought water and food for your life
I don't want to come alive
Life was hard when I was your bride
Yet I know we had a beautiful life
But things changed like the leaves on the vine

Mary, come alive

I brought water and food for your life
And I know we had a beautiful life
But things changed like the leaves on the vine

Mary, come alive
I brought water and food for your life
I don't want to come alive
Life was hard when I was your bride

And I know we had a beautiful life
But things changed like the leaves on the vine

Overall Meaning

"Mary Come Alive" is a melancholic song by American folk singer Marissa Nadler. The lyrics seem to be a plea to Mary, possibly Nadler's own alter ego, to come back to life. The song could be interpreted as the singer struggling with letting go of a past relationship, feeling nostalgic for the love that was once shared but is now gone. The repeated line "I brought water and food for your life" could be seen as Nadler's attempt to revive her own sense of self-worth by taking care of herself.

The line "Life was hard when I was your bride" suggests that the relationship was not always easy, and perhaps there were struggles that led to its eventual end. But the singer still looks back on it fondly, saying "I know we had a beautiful life." The metaphor of the changing leaves on the vine could represent the natural cycle of relationships, where love and beauty eventually fade away, but new growth is always possible.

Line by Line Meaning

Mary, come alive
The singer is calling out to Mary, asking her to come back to life.

I brought water and food for your life
The singer is trying to revive Mary by providing her with necessities like water and food.

I don't want to come alive
The singer may be referring to the difficulty of life and the fear of 'coming alive' again after experiencing hardships.

Life was hard when I was your bride
The artist acknowledges that their past life was difficult when they were together as a couple.

Yet I know we had a beautiful life
The artist remembers their past fondly despite the struggles.

But things changed like the leaves on the vine
The singer recognizes that things have changed, much like the leaves that fall and change colors on a vine.

Lyrics © TERRORBIRD PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: MARISSA NADLER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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