Ghost is the latest band to go viral on TikTok with the song "Mary On a Cross ," which has already accumulated over 220 million views on one of the hashtags related to the track. With this sudden success, some questions have arisen from newly arrived fans: What is the meaning of this song and why has it been accused of blasphemy?
Since frontman Tobias Forge never gave an explanation of the meaning of "Mary On a Cross," it's necessary to interpret the double entendres used in the song with some freedom and take into account the context of its release within Ghost's history, which has its own universe with characters and timeline.
Although the song was released in 2019 as part of the single Seven Inches of Satanic Panic , in the band's lore narrative, the tracks "Kiss the Go-Goat" and "Mary On a Cross" are performed by the character Papa Nihil , also known as Papa Emeritus Zero for being the patriarch of the lineage of popes who would later assume the throne, and would have been released in 1969 in this Ghost universe.
In the video for "Kiss the Go-Goat ," the A-side of the single, we can understand a little more about the context of the two tracks: Papa Nihil, now old, complains to Sister Imperator, leader of the Ghost clergy and his former lover, about the frenzy surrounding another member of the institution, demonstrating how nostalgic he felt for the times when he was the representative of that church to the masses.
In this scene, the music video returns to the year 1969 and shows Papa Nihil at the height of his popularity, young and desired by women, getting involved with fans and betraying Sister Imperator, who broke off the relationship.
Does "Mary On a Cross" have a blasphemous meaning?
What does all this have to do with "Mary On a Cross"? Being part of the same single and the same narrative, this song provides context for how Papa Nihil lived in those times and what the character's pains would be in the most recent viral TikTok song, a dubious outburst about rockstar life with references to sex, drugs, and fame.
We were speeding together
down dark avenues
, but despite all the fame,
all we had was sadness.
But amidst all the sadness,
we were on top.
And the truth is,
I never let you go, I never let you go.
We were touring the cities,
playing to pay off debts
, but beyond all the glamour,
everything we achieved was tarnished.
Right from the first verses, there's a lot of double meaning in the choice of words in English. As YouTuber Alex Tamulis , the phrase "speeding together" can refer to speeding down the streets in a tour context, but it's also a way of referencing drug use. This is repeated in "All we got was blues," which serves both to talk about the emptiness despite the parties and fame, as well as to refer to "booze blues," an informal slang term for the sadness some people feel after drinking alcohol.
You descend like Saint Mary,
Mary on a cross, Mary on a cross.
Not just another Bloody Mary,
Mary on a cross, Mary on a cross.
We arrive at the controversial refrain of “Mary on a Cross,” once again with two possible and equally important interpretations. At this point, Papa Nihil seems to be singing about his relationship with the one he “never lets go,” possibly Sister Imperator, based on the narrative shown in the “Kiss a Go-Goat” music video. It’s as if he can’t forget this person, despite her erratic behavior.
Following this line of reasoning, the chorus has a double meaning accused of blasphemy – and certainly intended to provoke this reaction, given the band's history – because "you go down" also means performing oral sex on someone. Placing Saint Mary in a sexual context, when Christianity says she is the Blessed Virgin, is absurd in itself.
Years ago, the same discussion took place on the Ghost fan forum on Reddit , and one user brought up a disturbing theory: besides the reference to the act of oral sex, saying that she "goes down like Saint Mary" could be a bizarre reference to sacred images of Mary kneeling before the cross of Jesus Christ, suffering from the loss of her son. In the context of Ghost's music, however… You can understand the problem.
To add another layer of controversy to the song's refrain, Genius points out that the pronunciation of "Mary on a" sounds like "Marijuana," which means marijuana. In other words, up to this point, the song has cleverly chosen ways to address various issues related to fame simultaneously in short phrases, talking about drugs and alcohol when mentioning the "Bloody Mary" drink, and also about Papa Nihil's relationships.
If you choose to run away with me,
I'll tickle you from the inside
, and I see nothing wrong with that.
Continuing the song, the protagonist proposes running away with this woman, once again with a sexual innuendo (and open to various interpretations) when talking about "tickling from the inside." There is also a possible provocation regarding the celibacy demanded by the Catholic Church, since Ghost functions as a kind of Satanic Clergy with visual elements similar to those of Catholicism, as Papa Nihil speaks of trying to "live by the rules" with this love, discovering shortly after that "rules are for idiots."
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