Scars To Your Beautiful Song Analysis

Many songs use their beat and lyrics to not only tell an evident story or convey a message, but also carry an underlying implicit message through created tension within the song itself. One such song, written by Alessia Cara, is “Scars To Your Beautiful.” “Scars To Your Beautiful” discusses an issue that has been prevalent in American culture and society for many years, but also utilizes a created tension between the lyrics and the beat of the song, to convey this underlying message that even though you are restrained by society, you can break those restraints. To understand the insights of the song, one must first rely on the context and meaning of the song. Berger, in his book Ways of Seeing, agrees that songs can take on many different

In Ways of Seeing, Berger makes clear that “We only see what we look at [which]… is an act of choice,” which clarifies this idea that to find out if there is some deeper meaning within the song, one must choose to look deeper (Berger, 1972). Most of the time, the lyrics themselves paint a clear picture of their meaning and context. In looking at the song, the lyrics “She has dreams to be an envy, so she’s starving / You know, covergirls eat nothing,” clearly paints this image of a woman hurting herself to reach the status and level of a covergirl (Genius, 2018). No further analysis of these lyrics is needed to see that the song is referring to covergirls and the detrimental sacrifices they make to be considered as such. Where the song creates internal tension is by matching up the beat of the song with the lyrics of the song. Close observation of this matching reveals a seeming contradiction or incongruence within the song. If you listen to the song, the beat consists of a very upbeat tempo and drumbeat. However, the lyrics of the song are solemn and create a sad feeling. One would think that the lyrics of the song would be better paired with a slow and sad beat, not an upbeat and fast tempo. Or at the very least, one would expect the tempo and beat of the song to mirror the tone and message of the song. Berger indicates

Alessia Cara very discreetly uses this incongruence of the tempo and lyrics to convey just that message. She does not live by society’s expectations and standards for the way the song should be composed. Rather she lives by her own standards and expectations. In creating this internal tension between the tempo and lyrics of the song, Alessia Cara emulates the anthem of being true only to oneself. It would have been easy for Cara to make the song the way most people would expect, with a sad and slow tempo and beat. However, Cara asserts the importance of not being constrained by others and the expectations of others by creating incompatibility with the lyrics and the beat, thus serving as a primary example for others to follow. It is one thing to say something, but it is a more powerful thing to actually do that something. By creating this tension, Cara arguably adds more power and authority to the song. The song by itself is powerful because of the message, but the message has been regurgitated by many other artists and individuals. Where Cara creates a significant difference between her song “Scars To Your Beautiful” and other songs is by the inherent contradiction within the song. Without this contradiction, the song is just “another song” that conveys the same old trite and hackneyed message. Maybe by