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Vaccination Scar Lyrics
So, the chemistry's set
And I'm not the saddest cheerleader
To forget the American word
For the gang in the head
That dwindles to no members when
The mystery's met
And the sky looks threatened
Heading home in the dusk
Singing, 'life is forgetting
Good enough for the frivolous'
One thing I remember is
This tear on your bare shoulder this
Little silver boulder this
Slowly falling star
Rolling so what
Never getting older
Where the moonshot curtains part
At the start of enough
A tear dropped in a vaccination scar
I'll tell you if I'm able that is
I'll tell you like it is
It went down like a bad card table
Like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Swimming on a bit
Stop and treading water
As the sun assimilated the words
For lighthouse fire
Burning down to embers' end
The mystery met
The sky just-reddened
Heading home under dusk
Is life just for getting
Another word for frivolous?
Or little silver boulder
Or silence from Mars
For the heart of enough
For a teardrop in a vaccination scar?
And I'm not the saddest cheerleader
To forget the American word
For the gang in the head
That dwindles to no members when
The mystery's met
And the sky looks threatened
Heading home in the dusk
Singing, 'life is forgetting
Good enough for the frivolous'
This tear on your bare shoulder this
Little silver boulder this
Slowly falling star
Rolling so what
Never getting older
Where the moonshot curtains part
At the start of enough
A tear dropped in a vaccination scar
I'll tell you like it is
It went down like a bad card table
Like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Stop and treading water
As the sun assimilated the words
For lighthouse fire
Burning down to embers' end
The mystery met
The sky just-reddened
Heading home under dusk
Is life just for getting
Another word for frivolous?
Or little silver boulder
Or silence from Mars
For the heart of enough
For a teardrop in a vaccination scar?
Song Info
Submitted by
opinionhead On Nov 20, 2004
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Perplexing song. Something good for you in the long-run, yet it hurts now and leaves a permanent mark. Ending a relationship? Maybe. An ever-changing world? Maybe. Rockin' song? Fuck yeah.
obviously, he's singing about something "It went down like a abd card table....like the tacoma narrows bridge" Sounds like a traggity to me. But in the beginning..sounds like he's singing about how Americans don't have there act straight......Americans don't know what they stand for...god damn it I have no clue with the Hip sometimes! rofl!
I had heard a while back that the song is referring to a scar that would sometimes appear after a vaccination that would usually result in the child losing their arm because of it but I can't really confirm that.
The part about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is referring to "Galloping Gerdy" which collapsed during a windstorm as the vibrations got worse and worse. (I grew up near Seattle so it's common knowledge of the bridge around there.)
@epsilon343 All of us over a certain age carry the "Vaccination Scar" on the upper arm. It is a bit bigger than a quarter. It was done in school when we were wee lads and lasses.
@epsilon343 All of us over a certain age carry the "Vaccination Scar" on the upper arm. It is a bit bigger than a quarter. It was done in school when we were wee lads and lasses.
I used to live in Whistler, Shortly before I moved there was a storm that washed out one of the bridges between whistler and Pemberton I guess a group of Kids drove right into this raging river in the Dark, apparently Gord was writing material for "Evolution" in whistler when it happened and thats the accident that influences the song. The hip played this pub in whistler under a fake name "the fighting fightersons" thats week as well
Iraq war. The gang in the head that dwindles to no members when the mystery's met is Iraq's "chemistry set" of WMDs. He's accusing the American administration of playing Chicken Little. The sky is in danger of falling according to them.
Made an account for this site for the sole purpose of emphasizing the following point: you're sort of wasting your time trying to comprehend and / or breakdown lyrics written by Gord Downie & the Tragically Hip... at least if you're trying to break it down for someone other than yourself. The reason being, the lyrics are so fucking obscure, 95 % + of the time. And that's what makes the Hip so great!
Their songs can mean so many different things to so many different people. And that's what makes the Hip so fucking awesome. Gord was a true poet & artist, not just a musician. Not only were the Hip's tunes fucking catchy and / or rocking; their lyrics meant something to each individual listener... in some way or another.
Best band ever; gotta love 'em!
@thedirtiesthip That may be true, but it doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t discuss potential meanings. Gord’s lyrics may be obscure, but they are certainly not meaningless: far from being “word salad“ they certainly came from somewhere. But like any good poetry his lyrics can be re-interpreted depending on the situation and the person. Case in point: I’m sure this song means something very different to people since the arrival of COVID-19. I’m writing this at the beginning of the summer of ‘21, and the whole world is vaccination crazy, despite not knowing the long-term effects of Pfizer, AstroZeneca, et. al....
@thedirtiesthip That may be true, but it doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t discuss potential meanings. Gord’s lyrics may be obscure, but they are certainly not meaningless: far from being “word salad“ they certainly came from somewhere. But like any good poetry his lyrics can be re-interpreted depending on the situation and the person. Case in point: I’m sure this song means something very different to people since the arrival of COVID-19. I’m writing this at the beginning of the summer of ‘21, and the whole world is vaccination crazy, despite not knowing the long-term effects of Pfizer, AstroZeneca, et. al.
One thing we can agree on is that the Hip are the “best band ever“! Gord is SO missed here in Canada, and yet we still got a wonderful surprise a few weeks ago with the release of “Saskadelphia”, the new E.P. that contains material originally recorded during the “Road Apples” sessions. To get what is essentially new Hip three years AFTER Downie’s death is just a huge gift to Hip fans - and far from being just the “cast-offs” from Road Apples, it’s an amazing album in itself.