Music / Maria Mena

Maria Viktoria Mena is a Norwegian singer-songwriter.

Maria Mena grew up around her drummer father, which inspired her to write. At age nine, her parents divorced. This event played a major role in her life. By age 13 she was writing lyrics. Her father was able to later make demo of her, which led to her being signed up with Sony Music. Maria Mena's music is frequently based on her life's experiences. Her father is an American of Afro-Nicaraguan descent, while her mother is Norwegian.

Much of her work revolves around her struggles with depression and eating disorders, as well as her pain over past relationships and her parent's divorce.

Discography

1. Another Phase
2. Mellow
3. Apparently Unaffected
4. Cause & Effect
5. Viktoria
6. Weapon in Mind
7. Growing Pains

8. White Turns Blue (her international debut that is essentially a "Best of" from the two first albums)

This musician provides examples of:

• All the Other Reindeer: Her first album is full of this.
  I couldn't hide my purple eyes
  I couldn't swallow them and not even chew
  Cause I'm me not you
• Alone in a Crowd:
  • "Pale People" is about being an individual feeling like you're in the process of fading into the crowd.
  • "Crowded Train" is even more about this.
• Book Ends: "You're the Only One" starts and ends with the same lyric.
• Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: In the video for "Just Hold Me", Maria drowns herself in the bathtub. When her boyfriend and two police officers break down the bathroom door, all they see is a butterfly leaving through the open window.
• The Cover Changes the Gender: The lines from "I Was Made For Loving You" that addressed the "you" as "girl" in the original is changed to "boy" in her rendition.
• The Cover Changes the Meaning:
  • Her cover of "I Was Made For Loving You" is a lot more flirty than the original, which was more of a passionate declaration if love in KISS's original.
  • Where Roxette's version of "It Must Have Been Love" was despairing and full of regret, Maria's version sounds more resigned.
• Domestic Abuse:
  • "He's Hurting Me" is about a physically abusive boyfriend.
  • "It Took Me By Surprise" is from the POV of an emotionally abusive girlfriend.
  • "You're The Only One" explicitly admits that the POV-character puts her boyfriend down because she doesn't want him to feel that he could do better than her.
• Driven to Suicide: In the "Just Hold Me" video, her boyfriend's cheating drives her to suicide.
• Drugs Are Bad: "They Smoke A Lot" is quite anvilicious about this, ending on the smoker dying. It is left ambiguous whether it's about marijuana or just ordinary cigarettes.
• Hidden Track: "When it Rains" is hidden at the end of "Better Than Nothing" on Another Phase.
• It's All My Fault: Played with. "Blame It On Me" has a person taking the blame for someone's low self-esteem, but implies that the person brought it on themselves by assuming they wanted them to be someone they were not.
• Self-Deprecation: In "Ugly", Maria berates her critics (or bullies) for giving her another thing to worry about.
• Self-Titled Album: Viktoria.
• Parental Neglect:
  • "My Lullaby" is from the perspective of a child who is so neglected by her mother that she sings herself to sleep.
  • "Am I Supposed To Apologize?" is about a trying to come to terms with having grown up with a neglectful mother:
    But I will spend a lifetime trying to understand
    Why someone sharing my bloodline would not lend me their hand
• Weight Woe: Several songs, including "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" and "Eyesore", reference eating disorders.

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