January 26, 2011
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Speech patterns
Recently I’ve been listening to the Cataracs. Their most memorable song is perhaps ‘Scars,’ a catchy, simple tune about a sad topic. I looked up the lyrics at a popular lyrics site and noticed something interesting:
Well she say she couldn’t be free
I was suffocating again
She tries to make it work, but it’s not working
And she doesn’t want to have to pretendWell it’s late now and I should go
[?]
And that’s where it hurts, it’s all for worse
I hope we can still be friends[Chorus:]
Scars that do not heal
We try to put them behind us
They only remind us
Of when we had something real
Oh scars (scars!) scars that lingers there
We try to put them behind us
They only remind us
Of when, we had some, thing realDoes it hurt, when it bleeds
Or is it worse when you hold it in
Feels like the first, cut like a virgin
Underneath my skinSo turn me up, and take me home
Twenty years now since I’ve been
No tears to cry, only empty [?]
I hope we could still be friends[Chorus:]
Scars “that lingers there?” No, “scars that linger still.” It’s very clear the last word is still, but it’s a more poetic and slightly less colloquial turn of phrase.
Well she says she couldn’t be free
I was suffocating again
She tries to make it work, but it’s not working
And she doesn’t want to have to pretendWell it’s late now and I should go
I’m sorry, I have to work
And that’s where it hurts, it’s all for worse
I hope we can still be friends[Chorus:]
Scars that do not heal
We try to put them behind us
They only remind us
Of when we had something real
Oh scars (scars!) scars that linger still
We try to put them behind us
They only remind us
Of when we had something realDoes it hurt when it bleeds?
Or is it worse when you hold it in
Feels like the first cut – like a virgin
Underneath my skinSo turn me up, and take me home
Twenty years now since I’ve been
No tears to cry, only empty promises
I hope we could still be friends[Chorus]
[Chorus]
The entirely missing line is also quite telling: it’s a pretty common brush-off phrase in that context. Has the listener who submitted the lyrics never been the subject of it, never delivered it, never heard it delivered to anyone in a smoky bar? Were these lyrics about the pain of separation, written by a young adult, interpreted by a younger teen?
