“Sticks and stones have made me smarter
It’s words that cut me under my armor”
This comes from the song “Paris is Burning” by St. Vincent. These
lines allude to the English language nursery rhyme “sticks and stones may break
my bones but words will never hurt me”. The phrase itself reminds me of my
childhood, when I was first told to ignore the hurtful words other kids used.
Ironically enough, I used my words (the phrase) to signify to others that words
could not affect me. I’m not sure if children use this phrase now, but I know
you have to be a part of an English-speaking discourse community to understand
the meaning of this phrase, and to understand the way St. Vincent manipulated
it.
The nursery rhyme itself is very literal – sticks and stones
are physical things that can literally break someone’s bones. Words, on the
other hand, have no physical qualities and could not to any real physical
damage to any person. I interpreted St. Vincent’s line to be a rebuff to that. “Sticks
and stones” are basic attempts to hurt someone – they’re basically all the
same; eventually you know what to expect if people are throwing them at you,
you can count on your armor to protect you from them. Words, on the other hand,
have meaning. When people use words to hurt others, that can really cut deep.
The whole tone of the song is very ominous and dark. I’m not
sure exactly what she’s alluding to in the song as a whole. The title itself
and the rest of the song suggest that the song is about the student riots in Paris
in 1968. Paris is Burning is also a
documentary film about the minority transgender community in New York City in
the 1980’s and early 1990’s.
I love the way St. Vincent plays with words in her lyrics. I
think she has an incredible mastery of language. She also used this nursery
rhyme long before Rihanna did.
I find you post to be very interesting. I grew up with four brothers so shouting the saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me" was an everyday event for me. Whenever any of my brothers said something mean to me I would throw that saying in their face but it most certainly didnt stop me from crying when they weren't looking (something you get very good at when growing up with three older brothers and a twin brother). I got so use to their stupid attempt to tackle me to the ground or take my stuff that I knew exactly where to hide, or better yet when to tell my mom but there really is no way to stop someone from syaing something mean to you. Now I dont want to make this sound like I have four evil brothers who constantly abused me as a child, but as anyone could imagine they had their fair share of fun being mean to the only girl. The lyric from the song "Paris is burning" seems to me to have been a more accurate representation of my childhood with them, because I could hide from their attempts to "hurt" me physically, but I couldnt hide from their words.
ReplyDeleteI think this highlights a case of expectations vs. reality.
ReplyDeleteWe tell kids words can't literally hurt them because they take things so seriously sometimes that you do literally have to remind them that it's not the end of the world.
I think this phrase is played on a lot, and especially eloquently here, because it's a simplicity that we grow out of. And I think part of the stereotypical teenage, and even adult, angst is that it feels like you were lied to. It's easier for kids to create the dichotomy between throwing rocks at each other at recess and telling someone they're ugly or mean. In fact, kids need boundaries and boxes like that. Adults do to, but we can handle a lot more grey.
So when we grow up, most of us aren't fighting like that anymore. When we do physically fight, we learn how to fight better (or we become smart enough not to get into a fight in the first place.) But with age relationships are more important. Since kids also(again, hopefully) have the steady relationship of their parents, they'll have other encouraging words to fall back on. When you're older, relationships are almost always your whole world and words that challenge or end them are really what can destroy you, because we're people and minds more than we are bodies.