honestly, you are thinking WAY too hard about this, its a fun song and im pretty sure Glee and the producers/music producers wouldn’t allow the actors to sing a song that has underrlying meanings that undermine the morals and values of the show……just enjoy the song, everyone else is

I don’t think that’s the right video. It’s definetly not in the one that just came out.

Like I said in my comment above, what you call “thinking too hard” is the intention of this blog. My intention is to point out problematic things and attitudes in media. I am not “way to [sic] emotional about the whole ‘domestic violence’ thing.” I have NO idea what you mean by “shit happens” either. When it comes to domestic violence, saying “shit happens” is a pretty dismissive way of thinking about a very serious problem for women! Sure, the song could be about a guy who hurt his gf….but “hurt” in what way? 

Here from a Google search made in an attempt to understand this song– I just want to say thank you for posting this, because now I know I’m not the only one who was entirely weirded out and confused by the “scar/gave it to you” thing. I came to the conclusion that it’s all symbolic too (and I guess the “sunglasses” guy is pretending to be sensitive by asking her about her past emotional trauma, or something?) but… it’s still weird and creepy, kinda. :/

This song reminds me of the TV show Skins (UK) and leaves me feeling the same way. Kind of disturbed. I heard it on a recent car commercial and looked it up on the web not making the Glee connection right away.  The lyrics definitely bothered me too, especially in light of the “fun” portrayed in the car commercial. I think the domestic abuse in the background (of the lyrics, not the commercial) is being passed off as just part of growing up. Perhaps it’s my age speaking, but I wonder how the “message” of the song would change if we fast forward a couple decades and the background of abuse hasn’t changed.

So glad you posted this. It bothered me too – in the same way Foster the People’s Pumped Up Kicks bothered me and many of Eminem’s songs bother me. It isn’t alright to glamorize such things.

But I’m still on the fence about Fun. I really want to like it and to see it symbolically, but its not coming as easy as it might to others.

Keep thinking too hard.

I think that’s very obviously it. The song is almost literal. There’s no deep meaning that you really need to pull from it.

also, omg. the video. come on. deffff about abuse. i feel like the video is at least somewhat more responsible than the lyrics, in that, at least in the visual complement to the song, the focus is on how she’s feeling about it after the fact. 

This guy is talking Bout how he made a mistake with his gf by cheating on her and he is asking her if there is any way she could forgive him, so he decides on just letting go for one night and be young and reckless and just have fun with her (not sexual fun). It is not about rape or beating someone. In the end he is basically like,”we’re cool now” and he will always have her back and he knows what he did wrong. He will “carry her home…tonight” basically means he will stay with her tonight and be a loyal friend/bf.

That’s a very optimistic way to look at it, and I’d like to believe that. I think this would all be solved if we simply knew what  “it” is–”I know I gave it to you months ago, I know you’re trying to forget.” I’m bothered in a way I shouldn’t be. I’ll admit I like your version of events better though.

its about death because in the song it says carry me home tonight… and tonight we are young so we can burn brighter than the sun.

wrong person sorry

Eminem has sad the reason some of his songs sound violent is because he uses music as an outlet.  If he gets his feelings out in his writing then he wont do anything like that in his personal life.  Atleast that is what I heard a few years back.

Wow.  I have to agree with Jenny.  I can’t believe what you said about domestic violence.  Do you know how many people are killed everyday from domestic violence?  Is she being way to emotional about the rape thing too?  I doubt you’re a woman based on your comments but what about your mother, sister, or daughter.  How would you feel is they were beat so bad they were in a coma or dead??  I had an Aunt that was beat so badily that she couldn’t make it out of her house that her husband set on fire after he beat her almost to death.  The fire finished her off.  Unbelievable!!!

Pop music lyrics are meant to be ambiguous, that way more people relate to them….

Here are my two bits: I think the sunglasses reference is to a cop who’s come to question him about a date rape; he’s sorry, but IF she were to become so inebriated (via his date-rape drug) again, he’s still more than happy to set the night ‘on fy-uh’ as he did when he stole her innocence the last time. It’s definitely a catchy song, but I think it’s disturbing nonetheless. 

I am a little confused by the lyrics, but I seem to be coming at it from a completely different angle.  Having not seen the official video and just trying to understand the context of the words, I thought he was singing to a male friend.  I presumed he was talking about some major falling out/fight they’d had leaving a physical scar.  I think the having to get his story straight part is to do with his friends in the bathroom taking his side against the other guy.  He is worried that they will come out of the bathroom and see him talking to the guy trying to apologise and be annoyed that he’s talking to a mutual enemy.  Finally, his way of apologising is to say ‘come on, lets have a drink together and make friends’, he will be there to carry the other guy home.

I just don’t buy the idea of it being about domestic violence, it seems too much of a happy/anthem type of song.

I think the scar is emotional, because he says “I’m trying hard to take it back,” and you really can’t “take back” a physical scar.

 no its not its asking ’bout a scar

I agree that this song is lyrically very disturbing, much like Foster the People’s Pumped Up Kicks.  Musically I love both songs; lyrically I despise them.  Even if the lyrics of We are Young are not referencing rape, they are most definitely referencing drug use–in a bathroom.  Like Pumped Up Kicks, this song contributes to the ongoing degradation of culture by sending out some very dark messages masked behind an extremely catchy facade.  The narrator of this song seems regretful about whatever he did, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did it.  To me this song is about domestic violence, but it could also be about rape.     

Ah. Nevermind! Reread the lyrics. Haha. Can’t delete my comment, now I look like a dumbass for under looking the lyrics. Anyways, I now think the sunglassed man is in reference to the second verse and how the boyfriend stresses that she has other men to fall back on because other men are trying to pick her up at the bar. I guess the new man can see that she suffers in her relationship, and assuming that she’s dealing with a break up, the new man hopes to comfort her.

“sunglasses” I interpreted as a cop

Yes! I’m not alone in being completely creeped out by this song!

The first few times I heard it, I heard it starting at the middle, and liked it well enough. Then, after a week or so, I finally heard the opening, and I went code.

“Scar? He gave her a scar? That someone else can see, so it’s not, like, an emotional scar? What the ever loving–”

I kept waiting for someone in the media to say, hey, wait, maybe we shouldn’t be playing a song about a guy who beats up his girlfriend! But no… it’s drifted to the freaking family rock stations!

I know that this is a rather old post, but I’d still like to give my two cents on this topic. The thing about interpreting poetry or lyrics is that we cannot take certain words or phrases out of context and then attempt to dissect them in a vacuum. There is a need to respect the connections between one line and another.

Here’s my interpretation of the song:

The persona is asking for a few moments to come up with a coherent explanation that can cover the asses of both him and his pot-smoking friends, in the event that he is approached by the authorities. As he tries to collect his thoughts, he becomes aware that his girlfriend is waiting for him across the bar, and his seat next to her has been taken by some hot shot wearing a pair of sunglasses. Said hot shot is trying to start a conversation with the persona’s girlfriend by asking the latter about a scar she has, which is revealed to have been given to her by the persona. Given that it is actually visible, we can infer that the persona did, indeed, hit his girlfriend, and the song does, indeed, deal with domestic abuse.

Now he is acknowledging that his girlfriend is trying hard to forget that he hit her, and although he is sincere in his attempts to take back what he has done, he knows that his apologies are filled with gaps, because it is impossible to rationalize hitting your partner. 

As a final effort to make things up to her, he is promising that he will take care of her and take her home, if she becomes too drunk to do so, herself. Here it becomes a little iffy, because yes, “home” may refer to his, not hers, and he does have the intention to have sex with her, thus recementing their relationship and therefore keeping her as his girlfriend despite having hit her and making her uncomfortable about continuing being with him.

Does it make sense? I hope it does.

I will give this a try. I think the story he is coming up with is what to tell his girlfriend or ex what he is doing there.” My seat ” may simply mean the place he would normally be sitting when they came to this place together. Not that they came there together that night. They more than likely had a big fight months before that caused a scar. We don’t know if he struck her literally or if he was being an idiot and threw something that accidentally injured her. Then we have him offering new ways to fall apart. This would say to me that they often break up over different reasons and get back together. He’s basically asking for another chance. But then his friends return so he acts as though he is fine and having them and not her is ok ” I found someone to carry me home.” the world is On my side. I have no reason to run.” and then talk about angels. There’s a point where you drink so much you feel like u might Durand I think hes then saying if she feels as bad as he does and drinks as much he still loves her and will be there to carry her home