“Purge The Poison” by MARINA

Every once in a while music artists, especially those perhaps we can say of the B list-ish British variety, tend to drop tracks like this – a ‘cause song’ if you will. A ‘cause song’ is basically one of those types of tracks where they confront pressing issues from primarily a politically-correct, albeit potentially-controversial, viewpoint. 

Or put differently the thoughts expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect tradition but may be indicative of major shifts in thought and ideology in the era in which the song is released.

For instance, within the entire context of British history attacking capitalism doesn’t make much sense, especially when the attacker is in one of the professions which has seemingly benefited most from such a system. 

But in this day and age even prominent Western politicians are publicly criticizing capitalism, and it would appear that some members of the elite want to do away with it altogether. As such, it isn’t surprising that a popular musician would also take such a stance.

Lyrics of “Purge The Poison”

But this is not meant to be a criticism of Marina who, at the beginning of the song, also mixes feminism with witchcraft, the latter being another contemporary phenomenon in terms of public espousement, shall we say. For even if a listener doesn’t agree with every stance she takes, the songstress still makes valid points nonetheless, in addition to confronting issues that have been timelessly troublesome. 

For instance few of us would argue against the notion that less “racism and misogyny” would be a good thing. Also, as with Marina most of us idealize a world with less warfare. 

And yes, as implied in the first verse additional effort does need to be made in the name of preserving our natural environment. 

In fact it would appear that in the chorus, the narrator is speaking on behalf of “Mother Nature” itself. And what she would be expressing literally is a “need to purge the poison from (her) system”, with said “poison” apparently being synonymous with pollution. 

But metaphorically and on a more human level, said statement would speak to the idea of overcoming the aforementioned practices and thought processes deemed destructive by the vocalist.

Feminism

And the one practice/thought she harps on the most is in fact feminism. Marina preaches female equality and empowerment most pointedly in the bridge. And to note, she does mention disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has been sort of a whipping boy for feminists these past couple of years. She does this in Verse 2.  

But she doesn’t appear to really say anything about his character or imprisonment. Also in the same passage, Marina recounts when “Britney (Spears) shaved her head” back in 2007. 

And in that regard, what it appears the vocalist is saying is that the media unfairly criticized Britney. In her eyes, this is indicative of the society at large’s tendency to not take mental health seriously.

Indeed social commentaries such as these tend to be imbued with just about every problem on Earth the singer may be concerned with. And amongst those mentioned in this track are:

• feminism
• environmental degradation
• racism
• misogyny
• capitalism
• war
• mental health
• the Me Too movement
• human trafficking
• the new world order

And conclusively what it appears Marina is saying is that we need to put more effort into shaping the world in a way which is more peaceful and compassionate than its current trajectory.

Interesting Facts

Marina (aka Marina and the Diamonds) wrote “Purge the Poison”, and the track was produced by Jennifer Decilveo.

Atlantic Records released this track on 14 April 2021. It is the second single from “Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land”, Marina’s fifth-studio album. And the first single that was issued from that project was 2020’s “Man’s World“.

“Purge the Poison” is a song which Marina had been teasing at least since May of 2020.

Weird Life Films, an outfit from Chicago, directed this track’s music video.

Marina

And as for Marina herself, she is a singer from the UK who traces part half of her parentage to Greece, another country she has spent considerable time in. 

She began professionally making music in 2005 and between 2007 and 2019 has dropped four albums as well as quite a few EPs. 

Earlier in her career, she operated under the moniker Marina and the Diamonds, despite being a solo act. And she changed her stage name to simply Marina in 2018. And as far as her musical career goes, her most successful full-length to date would be considered the second on the list, “Electra Heart” (2012). It earned Marina a UK Albums Chart number one and gold certification in the US and UK. 

As far as individual tracks go, the first single from that particular album, a song called “Primadonna” (2012), charted pretty much across the board.

At the time of the release of this track, Marina Diamandis is 35 years old.