The A.V. Club runs a recurring series called “HateSong,” in which they ask their “favorite musicians, writers, comedians, actors, and so forth to expound on the one song they hate most in the world.” Last week, they asked Jenn Wasner from the great Wye Oak (seriously check out Civilian, one of 2011’s best gems) for an answer, and she picked “Scars,” Papa Roach’s 2005 hit about PAIN. Here’s what she said.
We should start from the beginning, though. When I heard this song for the first time, it sounded like “Butt Rock Band Goes To Therapy And Picks Up A Few Therapy Buzz Phrases And Then Writes a Song.” It was also like “Singer Of Said Butt Rock Band Discovers What A Metaphor Is.”
I think the best quatrain in the whole thing is, [singing] “That you’re drowning in the water/So I offered you my hand/Compassion’s in my nature/Tonight is our last stand” “Compassion’s in my nature” — that line does not belong in any song, ever.
In this song, you’ve got, “Can’t help you fix yourself,” and all these kind of therapy catchphrases, and then you’ve also got the really heavy-handed metaphor thrown in there of, “I tear my heart open/I sew myself shut/My weakness is that I care too much/And my scars remind me that the past is real.” But when I get to the “You’re drowning in the water,” and then all of a sudden water is involved — that always gets me, that line. It’s hysterical. Even now, in the moment, I’m actually feeling really bad, picking this person’s song apart, because how could it not be completely genuine, when you read these lyrics? (Via)
In case you’ve blocked the AGGGGOOONNYYYY AND FEEELLLLLINNNNNGGGSSSSS from your memory:
Word of the article got to Papa Roach’s lead singer, Jacoby Shaddix, and he sent flowers to Wasner:
And then tweeted back to her:
She was so proud of the note and flowers that she had them onstage last night at her band’s gig in Brooklyn (photo courtesy of Amanda Hatfield, who is a friend and an excellent photographer):
The only bad thing about this story is that it’s distressing to know that the dude from Papa Roach has a sense of humor. BBBBRRRRROOOOOOKKKKEEENNNN HOMMMMEEEEEEEEEE.
