Music Review // Scarlett Macfarlane "Sorry"

 

As the song "Sorry" begins these ringing guitars come through to give off this magical type of vibe.   Somewhere between an artist such as Debbie Gibson and Avril Lavigne, this kicks in like a power ballad but with a lot more power.   There are acoustics, big vocals and it just really does seem to resonate with the idea of being sorry, with that feeling of regret that comes with looking at the past while ahead to the future at the same time.

One of the first lines in here which really captures the feeling of being sorry says: "Can't think, cause I'm paralyzed by the memory of mistakes".   If you've never really had that feeling of "Oh, why did I do that" take over your entire being then I'm not sure if you've really lived or not.  I think one of the biggest factors in this all as well is that we can spend nights without sleeping, thinking about things we did that we felt like we wronged others and then if you ask them about it they just don't even remember.

The thing about this chorus is that it tells it like it is when it comes to lying.  "I'm so so sorry / I told you stories / I didn't know I'd get so lost in them".   I've always felt that idea of lying to people is like keeping score of what you told and to who, while if you're just honest you don't ever have to worry about that.  It was Mark Twain who said it best: "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything".  Part of this song, for me, is realizing that and being able to accept that lying back then was wrong and you won't do it again.

Perhaps the biggest take away from this song though is how far an apology can go.   As Scarlett Macfarlane says: "So I apologize, I forgive myself, and begin again".  You can offer apologies to others and they may not take them, but sometimes the biggest challenge is forgiving yourself, letting go and moving on because you now know that you won't make the same mistakes.  Of course, this is all just part of growth, which is part of life and that is also why this song can feel so relatable.