“Mary Anne” is a recurring if mysterious name that crops up on occasion in other Spektor songs, even appearing in the titles of one of her albums (“Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Stories”). In these other works, Mary Anne is often presented as a sort of femme fatale, as she is here, where Spektor outright labels her “a bitch.”

It’s also possible that Spektor is referring to the fact that the name “Mary Anne” may be related to the name “Marian,” meaning “bitter sea.” If the Mary Anne in this song is the name of the sea itself, this might be seen as a play on the old sailor’s saying “The sea is a cruel mistress.”

This line could also mean the spread of communism that happened throughout Russia and the eastern countries. Especially in correlation with the Domino Theory, that if one country falls to communism, others around it could as well.

While “den of thieves” is angry in the original context (Matthew 21:13: “My Temple will be called a house of prayer but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”), I don’t perceive it as being angry in this song. “Rummaging for answers in the pages” suggests a note of empathy. “They” turn into “us” in the second verse suggesting the chorus applies to everybody including the narrator who also lives in the “den of thieves”. “It’s contagious” being a reference to giving children is consistent with “new ones are slave labor you can keep” (also referring to bringing children into the world). Like Leonard Cohen, Regina draws inspiration from scriptures but rarely judges and often prefers portraying “sinners” (Samson anyone? It’s not an angry song either, just about human nature.) So I’d say there’s nothing angry here either, except maybe slightly irritated with the human condition, which we all experience. They = us.

If life is merely about “living in a den of thieves”.

Sculptor’s mama

As mentioned in the first couple lines of Verse 1, could you expand on how it relates to the historical statue explained?

homonym for daddy

could be a jab at “come on daddy”