“Scars To Your Beautiful”, composed by Alessia Cara, Pop & Oak, and Sebastian Kole, is a beautiful piece of music that encourages people to be comfortable in their own skin. The song was released in 2015 in the U.S. and has gained popularity since; reaching top charts in Canada, Australia, Slovenia, Germany, and many other countries including America. It has reached number 1 on US Dance/Mix Show Airplay, US Mainstream Top 40, US Adult Top 40 in the U.S. and is currently playing on the local radio on a regular basis (Know-It-All, Wikipedia).
Below is the music video and is worth the watch if you have not yet already seen it.
Lyrics
The lyrics to this song are beautiful. Cara sings about no matter who you are, or where you come from, you should always embrace who you are and the body you live in. She is also trying to bring awareness to people who are treated differently, saying “…and you don’t have to change a thing, the world could change it’s heart…”, by saying the world should try to be more accepting and realize there isn’t one kind of beauty, but endless ways to be beautiful. Uniqueness should be encouraged. Clover Hope, with Billboard website, positively stated, “As first impressions go, Know-It-All is a charismatic balance between dreams and reality that makes its author stick out in the most impressive way.”, and I would like to agree that Cara herself is unique for singing about something real and what most everybody on the planet can relate to. Andy Kellman, from AllMusic website, also reviewed the song in a positive light stating, “Going by the level of potential shown here, it’s evident that Cara will eventually need a lot less creative assistance [in the future]”, which I also agree with this statement. I believe the chorus could have been less generic sounding, but the lyrics are prime so I believe in the future she will be able to get more creative with the sound while maintaining her strong message through lyrics and music videos.
Clover Hope, with Billboard website, positively stated, “As first impressions go, Know-It-All is a charismatic balance between dreams and reality that makes its author stick out in the most impressive way.”, and I would like to agree that Cara herself is unique for singing about something real and what most everybody on the planet can relate to. Andy Kellman, from AllMusic website, also reviewed the song in a positive light stating, “Going by the level of potential shown here, it’s evident that Cara will eventually need a lot less creative assistance [in the future]”, which I also agree with this statement. I believe the chorus could have been less generic sounding, but the lyrics are prime so I believe in the future she will be able to get more creative with the sound while maintaining her strong message through lyrics and music videos.
Texture and Dynamics
In the beginning of the song, Cara starts off only accompanied by a homophonic texture. The accompaniment plays and holds one chord and changes the chord every couple beats in pianissimo as she sings along, which allows the audience to hear the message in her lyrics clearly. Then a catchy rhythm with bass and snapping comes in to warm up for the chorus. Then when you get to the chorus, the music gets louder, the lyrics sound happier and more empowering, and the texture turns to polyphonic- many rhythms are layered on top of each other. Throughout the piece, there are contrasting textures, and I believe that adds dynamic to the music.
Range
Cara really stays in a neutral range and doesn’t take many jumps to high/low notes. The song is singable, and I believe they may have done this on purpose to not distract from the message of the lyrics and to allow anyone to be able to sing along without causing people to feel self-conscious of their voice.
Duration and Rhythm
There are notes that are held out and there’s also notes that are cut short for a dramatic effect. Beautiful is usually held out longer than the other words to drag emphasis to what the song is about. There is a pulsing throughout the music that lands directly on the beat and you can hear word-rhythms, especially when she sings “no better you than the you that you are” and the rhythm is replicated throughout the piece.
Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog. I hope it was enjoyable for you.
Sources:
“Know-It-All.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.
“Scars to Your Beautiful.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.
Hope, Clover. “Alessia Cara Balances Idealism and Cynicism on Debut ‘Know-It-All’: Album Review.” Billboard. Billboard, 06 Nov. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.
Kellman, Andy. “Know-It-All.” AllMusic. AllMusic, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.
Music 200X 
I really like the approach you took to analyzing this song; you didn’t only find interviews praising it from the rooftops, and you included the comment about the generic chorus. I really enjoy this song, and I’ve always found myself singing along even though I don’t know all the words, and I think that has a lot to do with the neutral range you mentioned and the repetition in the easy-to-remember chorus. I never paid a lot of attention to the song before, but I definitely will from now on. Nice job on the post.
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Beautiful song choice. This song is a very uplifting and meaningful song. I really like the outlook you had on her staying in a neutral range to make sure no one singing this song is feeling badly about their voices. It really pulls the whole theme of the song together. Great blog!
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