mona lisa by mxmtoon
Hey everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely day, this week I am presenting an artist that you have most likely heard music from but don’t know who is the one behind.
This week’s artist is singer-songwriter mxmtoon! I have known her since 2019 when little 12-year-old Larissa would play ‘High and Dry’ on her tiny iPod and write down the lyrics as she heard them for fun and later learn the lyrics without even knowing what they meant. But now as I am older, I have a waaaay more developed brain (hopefully) I can now understand these lyrics and appreciate the strong meanings behind all her songs.
You have probably heard her song ‘Prom Dress’, released in May 2019 which was huge in the beginnings of TikTok and makes its way back in everyone’s video during prom season. But she began her career in 2017 as just a teenager who would post ukelele covers in her bedroom, a secret she kept from her parents until “the fame got too much to hide”.
As of 2024, Maia (which is her real name and no last name because she keeps it private) has gained a widespread audience across many online platforms and has also released lots and lots of music ever since her beginning!
The choice for this week’s song was very difficult, now that it is one that I hold all her songs so dearly because of the many years that I have heard them. But I chose the one who has been heavily resonating in my head for the past weeks: Mona Lisa!!
This song is one that strongly showcases her contemplative and vulnerable lyricism which is a characteristic that I believe makes her work so personal and relatable. It might sound contradictory but Maia is very explicit and implicit with her lyrics. This is because the meaning can be understood with the first listen but when hearing the song over and over, you catch the hidden symbolism and metaphors that she uses to explain every scenario.
I love the specific metaphor used in the song which explains how: she doesn’t want to be the creator like Shakespear anymore who “hides behind the ink and pen”, she wants to be the protagonist, the main subject of the art like Mona Lisa!
The lyrics that hit me the most are part of the pre-chorus: “ I wanna feel like I finally matter”, it feels like a very genuine statement that comes straight from her heart, something she truly desires: “Let me be your muse”.
P.S. The cover of this song is so gorgeous!!
Favorite Verse
“I've always played the part of Shakespeare
I hide behind the ink and pen
I build up worlds and choose a savoir (savior, savior)
I write beginning, middle, end”
Other songs you should listen too
High and Dry
Feelings are Fatal
Kaleidoscope
Don’t forget to listen along to the Sound Scoop playlist and the past recommendations!
Hope to see you back next week!
Lari <3
That’s great!!