i have always wanted to ask this, and now i have the answer..in fact i have two answers...and i have to make up my mind which one to believe :)

Maria definitely refers to mary magladene... she said it in one of the interview.. if u actualli read the da vinci code, some parts of the book talks abt in the drawing of the last supper, jesus and mary magladene together forms a letter "M" in the drawing, and thus the name of the song "M" ..it;s an interesting book btw
there is this myth that mary and jesus were actualli lovers... and such... that;s the idea of the whole thingy..
i;m pretty sure Maria refers to mary magdalene

I also think it is refering to Mary Magdalene. Yes, there is the bible rendition that says Magdalene was a prostitute but, there are many people that believe she and jesus were married. Thus the PV and the lyrics do then fit with Mary Magdalene more than the virgin Mary imho.

Also to answer someones question about whether people worship Magdalene in churches and what not. The answer is yes, there are several churches in Europe, especially in France that are devoted to and named after Mary Magdalene.

What Interview? I'd like to see that please.

When I heard the song, watched the PV and read the lyrics I thought Maria was the Virgin Mary.

do you know that some of Ayu's songs have the same title as hitomi's songs?

E.g.: poker face, I am.

that is not a surprise. there are so many songs called 'love' or 'goodbye' and similar things :)

um... O.o I got lost with accouple paragraphs..and now im double LOST....Um...(*Confuesed & Scared *) Um...What should i DO?!!?!!?!?! (*-*) so she IS or ISNT referring to a religion mary, or just a chick name'd mary? .. lol... or wait, mabe shes in the church becazuse she wanted to be, and so happends she liked a dress that look'd like a wedding dress, and thought it'd be cool, and probley she has a home gal thats name'd "maria", Hey it COULD happen...lol.. and pluss i wear a cross, and i aint catholic..Heh. I didnt even know that wearing a whyt dress means ur virgen..i just thought that it fitt'ed the senerio...lol
I feel so much smarter :D................NAh...Still dumb..lol

well, i dunno much about Mary Magdalene, Virgin Mary nor MARIA because i'm not a christian myself, but i can tell from the lyrics that ayu is praying to MARIA [i dunno which one] about her love or sort of...

FYI
M is my all-time favorite ayu song, it's her first song that i heard, i've been listening to her since then

yes, which interview?

what does "FYI" mean? and btw???

Mary Magdaline is actually very well known and is considered a savior in some smaller classes of catholicism and Christianity. Some people believe that she will become a prophet before christ returns. After all, she was one of the key people to find Christ's grave empty. And the angel called out to her directly.

There are anime series with Mary Magdaline in it with little mention of Mary wife of Joseph. Take Chrno Crusage: Rosette, the main female character, is the reincarnation of Mary.

But we can't know for sure what Ayu means unless she flat out tells us. I think it's up in the air for everyone.

If you think about the lyrics, she's saying there is someone she SHOULD have loved. Obviously, the Virgin Mary (I'm no theologian, btw) has never had any issue of love or anything. However, if Mary MAGDALENE was indeed in love with Jesus and we go by the catholic teachings, she never got the chance to truly love him.

I"m not christian/catholic btw...

I didn't know that M had so much deeper meaning to it..=D

haha i was going to say because it was the name of my mother XDDD but i guess i was wrong :rolleyes

I read somewhere that was about Mary Magdaline, but I don't remember where....

Close, but i heard that Ayu wrote this song when she first heard Mary Magdelene's story (she was not Jesus's mother. This Mary was the prostitute). Ayu was greatly inspired by this story, especially about love and heartbreak, and that's why she wrote "M".
i also dont think that Mary Magdelene and Jesus were in love...O_o...that just sounds wrong. And the Da Vinci Code was never meant to be taken seriously...Moreover, wasn't the person sitting next to Jesus in the Last Supper the disciple John? (though it wasn't directly said in the Bible). Yeah, i just happen to remember certain parts of the Bible.
Anyway, a change of subject:
Did you also know that "M" was gonna be named "Bliss"? But it was changed for the purpose of the song's meaning.

Ah, in regard to Ayu's religion. Just becuase she wears a cross, doesn't mean she's Christian. The cross is mostly just a fashion statement. After all, American's wear the Egyptian ahnk and the Tao yin yang, but have little knowledge of the religions they're connected with.

As far as the meaning of 'M'. Well, the letter obviously stands for 'maria' a common Japanese spelling of the name Mary. I, too, believe that Ayu is referring to Mary Magdalene, and not the Virgin Mary. My reasons are basically the same as those already stated.

nv

Funny because I've never seem catholics going to churchs and praying for Mary Magdelene. I've seem them praying for Virgin Mary. Is ayu praying for Maria Magdalene in the start of the PV? I doubt it.
The song is obviously a Prayer, a prayer she's making wondering about how life can have it's up and downs, how relationships can begin slowly but they can end fast, how some people are facing happiness and other sadness at the same time, and in order to bear such insecurities people usually resort to praying, so she's doing that now, praying for Maria (she's not talking about Maria, she's praying for Maria). I don't really think she would be praying for Mary Magdalene :think

It's nice to make an understanding to the concept of religion and the concept of listeners and fans. When artists make a reference to a religious figure (japanese figuratively choose maria, based on roman catholic traditions that are closely linked and related to Shinto, which ayumi happens to be a member of) they always try to make a spiritual connection in their music.

Maria, happening to be the "Virgin Mary" is a glorious and misunderstood figure that looks like an angel even in human form, but yet is battered down and slain because of her deathly beauty.

Another take on this is Mary Magdeline the supposed mother of Jesus Christ. A good concept on this that ayumi could have been doing is to promote a cultural shock in her music, a balad song is good mix with spirituality and however the momentum used, Maria is a figurehead that is easily rejoiced in music over... however never in anything rockish as seen in "greatful days" or "ourselves."

It's good to think of this as a call.. or a prayer.
When someone can connect to ANY spiritual energy, then they too can understand the passion that can be felt by song or by writing. Hamasaki-san has a wonderful ability to use these objects and ideals in her music to promote a figure that makes you fall to your knees to shout "MARIA!"

It helps to think of this open-mindedly... Don't fall into the religion traps thinking that Hamasaki-san is Catholic or anything of the suit, that only brings up rumors and unfortunately can disbain the name of our glorious white princess.

It's a nice song to listen too when you're down, when you need a chill pill... and I've even heard it saved a live from suicide.

If a song can touch even one person, Hamasaki-san should be proud.