Talk to Her

*Not to be confused with Hable con Ella.*

## Audio

"**Talk to Her**", originally titled "**somewhere in Minnesota**" due to its lyrical setting, is the 13th track of *CINEMA*, the debut studio album of American indie pop band The Marías. It acts as the postlude to the album.

## Background and conceptualization

"Talk to Her" acts as a finalized rendition of a poem María had written on tour. During tours, María often journals her experiences and thoughts in her "tour notebook". On a particular day, however, during a meeting between all of the band members, she began to read an entry of poetry she had written during the tour.

> *One night, María was reading some poetry from her little tour diary. ... It was about being on tour. We were all totally taken aback by it because none of us had ever heard that before.*
> Josh Conway, via Apple Music
>
>

María exclaims they had all gone through tribulations on that tour, and thus, she had transferred her emotions to paper.

> *I think we all share very difficult moments on that particular tour. You get to see inside our minds during that time. ... I don't know if a lot of people know how difficult touring is for ... most artists.*
> María Zardoya, via Apple Music
>
>

> *It was a tour that was really difficult for all of us, because it was a support tour. The headlining band had this big tourbus, so they would drive at night, get to the venue early and all that—so the route and schedule was set according to that. We were in our little van getting up early and trying to make it to these venues, playing when the lights were still on and people were still walking in. Our younger fans couldn’t make it, because of the ticket price, so it was really difficult for us to be traveling for an audience that really didn’t care.*
> María Zardoya, via Interview Magazine
>
>

The track's instrumental, however, was recorded years prior.

> *Josh wrote the instrumental [for "Talk to Her"] years ago before The Marías, and I loved it from day one. ... We thought it would be interesting to merge [it with poetry.]*
> María Zardoya, via Twitter
>
>

## Theme

In "Talk to Her", María expresses her and her band member's emotions throughout a tiresome tour.

> *The line ["don't stop giving up"] is restorative too. It's a call and response, like a train of thought that tells you to not stop and that it’ll be fine.*
> Josh Conway, via Apple Music
>
>

## Lyrics

**[Verse: María, spoken]**

It all comes and goes in waves. Everything looks the same: the cornfields; the cows; the flies; the coughing; the musky air that fills our rows and permeates even through the ash infested vents from the fires, eating away at the barks of trees like this moment, eating away at the last dose of happiness lingering on the dust of our bones. The other night, wrapped in crispy motel sheets, I clenched my body and pretended I was an embryo in my mother's womb. It was the only source of warmth and comfort that could sing me to sleep. But now, I see the sheep out the window on green pastures, I hope they have water. I sometimes imagine myself being reincarnated as one and jumping over these low wire fences to freedom. I wonder how far I could make it without a human catching me, taming me, bringing me back to their living painting of life to look at as they wash the dishes, smeared with my mother's milk that they stole from me. It's raining, finally and the van is slowly drifting into the other lane. Eddie is driving. Everyone else is asleep, sometimes coming up for air. Their heads poking up like groundhogs before sinking back into their holes. But it's not all dark and grim. There are moments of hope, they come to me when it's quiet, they come to me when everyone is synched in their levels of happy, which doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's nice/ I wonder if we'll look back and think that these miles of cornfields, these anguished breaths, these forced smiles, these moments that were gone, the momentary calms and the thousands of little bugs pressed against our windshield were all worth it.

**[Breakdown: María, *Josh*]**

I don't know exactly where I'm supposed to be

There's a hollow thought that takes control of me

*Don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up*

*Don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up*

*Don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up*

*Don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up*

I don't know exactly where I'm supposed to be (*Don't stop giving up*)

(*Don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up*)

There's a hollow thought that takes control of me (*Don't stop giving up*)

*Don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up*)

I don't know exactly where I'm supposed to be (*Don't stop giving up*)

(*Don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up*)

There's a hollow thought that takes control of me (*Don't stop giving up*)

*Don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up, don't stop giving up*)

## Trivia

* "Talk to Her" is the English counterpart to "Hable con Ella", the fifth track of *CINEMA*. Each title is synonymous, however, diverse by language.
* When asked to describe the source of the song, María replied "exhaustion, pain and hope."

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/how-an-acid-trip-gave-birth-to-the-marias-latest-album-cinema
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 https://music.apple.com/us/album/cinema/1563957170
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://twitter.com/themarias/status/1410017628089765888
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/themarias/status/1410017750353776643