Synopsis

Filmed in New York City, the "Maria" video presents Blondie performing inside an apartment while unseen observers monitor the band from nearby buildings. Green night-vision imagery, surveillance cameras, and rooftop equipment give the performance a tense, spy-thriller atmosphere. The mysterious watchers eventually turn their attention toward Deborah Harry, building to a stylized assassination attempt. In the original ending, a bullet travels through the window toward Harry, but she catches it effortlessly before it can reach her.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Maria" was Blondie's first new single after the band had been away from the charts for 17 years. It appeared on the 1999 comeback album *No Exit*.

• The song was written by keyboardist Jimmy Destri. He described it as being about teenage desire, drawing on memories of Catholic school and the idealized image of a girl placed on a pedestal.

• The video's New York setting mirrors Blondie's own history as a band closely associated with the city's downtown punk and new wave scenes.

• The surveillance footage was designed to resemble images captured through night-vision equipment, giving the performance a deliberately detached, voyeuristic look.

• The bullet sequence has not appeared consistently in every version of the video. Some edits remove or alter the assassination gag, while the original cut ends with Harry catching the bullet.

• "Maria" became Blondie's sixth UK number one single, making the comeback especially significant in Britain. It also topped the charts in Greece and Spain.

• The original 1999 shoot later became the subject of newly released behind-the-scenes footage, filmed on Hi-8 video in Manhattan and featuring members of Blondie away from the finished production.