The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
I wish I could tie you up in my shoes
Make you feel unpretty too
I was told I was beautiful
But what does that mean to you?
Look into the mirror who's inside there
The one with the long hair
Same old me again today, yeah
My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Every time I think I'm through
It's because of you
I've tried different ways
But it's all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
I'm just trippin'
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
Yeah, I'll make you feel unpretty too
Never insecure until I met you
Now I'm bein' stupid
I used to be so cute to me
Just a little bit skinny
Why do I look to all these things
To keep you happy?
Maybe get rid of you and then I'll get back to me (hey)
My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Every time I think I'm through
It's because of you
I've tried different ways
But it's all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
Can't believe I'm trippin', yeah
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
I'll make you feel unpretty too
I'll make you feel unpretty
Oh-whoa, oh-oh-whoa
Oh-whoa, oh-oh-whoa-oh
Oh-whoa, oh-oh-whoa
Oh-whoa, oh-oh-whoa-oh
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Be in the position to make me feel so
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
Make you feel unpretty too
I was told I was beautiful
But what does that mean to you?
Look into the mirror who's inside there
The one with the long hair
Same old me again today, yeah
My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Every time I think I'm through
It's because of you
I've tried different ways
But it's all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
I'm just trippin'
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
Yeah, I'll make you feel unpretty too
Never insecure until I met you
Now I'm bein' stupid
I used to be so cute to me
Just a little bit skinny
Why do I look to all these things
To keep you happy?
Maybe get rid of you and then I'll get back to me (hey)
My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Every time I think I'm through
It's because of you
I've tried different ways
But it's all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
Can't believe I'm trippin', yeah
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
I'll make you feel unpretty too
I'll make you feel unpretty
Oh-whoa, oh-oh-whoa
Oh-whoa, oh-oh-whoa-oh
Oh-whoa, oh-oh-whoa
Oh-whoa, oh-oh-whoa-oh
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I to
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can buy all the make-up that MAC can make
But if you can't look inside you
Be in the position to make me feel so
You can buy your hair if it won't grow
Lyrics submitted by #1girlpimp
Unpretty Lyrics as written by Dallas Austin Tionne Watkins
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Dreamwalker
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
I love the first two lines "I wish I could tie you up in my shoes, make you feel unpretty too" It's like saying-how about I treat you like you treat me and see what it's like to feel ugly.