Lyric Analysis 1- Frank Turner, The Real Damage

Frank Turner- The Real Damage

I woke up on a sofa in an unfamiliar house,
Surrounded by sleeping folks that I didn't know.
On failing to find my friends, I decided that it was
clearly time to go.
So I made my way out of the door as quietly as I could
–
There was no one there I knew to say goodbye –
Squinting in the sadly sobering sunshine of the Sunday
morning light.

I started the night with all my friends and I ended up
alone,
Oh yes I started out so happy now I'm hung-over and
down.
It was about then that I realized I was half-way
through
The best years of my life.

So I scanned the local landmarks, trying to find out
where I was,
And maybe even find a bus back home.
I was longing for a shower, and for clean sheets, and
a charger for my phone.
And suddenly it hit me that I got paid this Friday
last
And so I rifled through my pockets for some change.
But all I found was a packet of broken cigarettes and
sinking sense of shame.

I had to ask myself, well,
Is it really worth it?
Is any of this worth it?
Well the whole thing's far from perfect,
But I've yet to figure out a better way to spend my
time.

Too many suits and dirty looks made me rack my
brains,
And the real damage started to sink in.
It'd been quite a heavy weekend, but I could just
about remember where I'd been.

I stood on a street corner, and I felt a little sick.
It was about then that I realized I was half-way
through
The first day of the week.

This is the first Frank Turner song on our final three and the overall feel from these lyrics is a sense of regret. The lyrics tell a story of waking up after a party hungover and alone. These lyrics are important to the song as it sets the feel for the rest of the lyrics because we already know that the song is about his loneliness. 'The Real damage' is meant to be pyscological damage rather than physical. The lyrics also show he is remebering these years as the best years of his life.

In terms of making a video out of this song would have been very testing. The main theme of the song is a man hungover, feeling down and reviewing his life but this would have been difficult to express this in a video. Lyrically this song is too much of a story than a representation which is what we were looking for in making our music video. Our original ideas were dismissed as they were to narrative to the song.