"Makes Me Wonder " by Maroon 5
Reviewed by: Krystal Burns
Note: We focus on reviewing songs, and therefore cannot comment on the appropriateness of the album in its entirety. Please use your best judgment whenever purchasing or listening to music.
The Artist
Some things never change. Five years after their last recording contract, Maroon 5 is back with more of the same catchy, but ultimately crude and confused tunes about romance gone wrong. Maroon 5 debuted with “Songs About Jane” in 2003, although it took a little while for their best sellers like “This Love” and “Harder to Breathe” to reach the charts. The guys were impressive as a boy band the first time around, so we’ll have to see if the upcoming sophomore album can compare.
The Album
“Makes Me Wonder” was released as a single to generate some buzz about “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long,” expected to be in stores at the end of May. Ironically, lead vocalist Adam Lavine says he didn’t even like the song initially but “it kept coming up because the label loved it.” Former fans will be thrilled to hear the boys haven’t changed their tune; the song is unmistakably Maroon 5.
The Song
“Makes Me Wonder” unapologetically opens with the most sexually explicit lyric I’ve heard in a pop song in a long time. He goes on to explain in the chorus that this sexual encounter didn’t really mean anything because “I don't believe in you/Anymore, Anymore/ I wonder if it even makes a difference to try/ So this is goodbye.” For two more verses he continues to wallow in his indecisiveness, questioning if he ever cared about the girl in the first place. (He throws in some profanity for dramatic effect.)
Levine says the song was written about “one of my relationships that was going horribly wrong.” The group’s debut, “Songs About Jane,” was also based on turbulent love/hate relationships. With all the time spent contemplating love and romance, you would think he’d have a few things figured out by now. But clearly, Levine and his boys have fallen prey to some of our culture’s biggest misconceptions about love. We can likely expect a lot more songs about love not working out.
The problem is that we live in world that idolizes romantic love. This isn’t anything new, but it seems that more than ever we are putting romance at the center of our lives. Songs, websites, magazines, and movies almost all tell us that “love” is the only thing worth living for.
Romantic love is good, but it can’t take God’s place in your life. Levine sings, “Give me something to believe in cause I don’t believe in you anymore.” The Bible has the answer. Proverbs 3:5-7 says, “Trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”
Keeping your relationship with God at the center of your life is the only way to get past the confusion and broken relationships in our world.
So What Do You Think?
1. Did you like the first album by Maroon 5?
2. What are your favorite songs and why?
3. Can you relate to “Makes Me Wonder” (with friends, family, or other)?
4. Why does our culture put so much emphasis on romance?
5. Think of some specific examples of ways in which the media teaches us to put romantic love first.