Pretty Hurts Song analysis

 

"Pretty Hurts"

[Harvey Keitel:] Ms. Third ward, your first question - what is your aspiration in life?
[Beyoncé:] Oh... My aspiration in life... would be... to be happy.

(Uh huh huh)
(Uh huh huh)
(Uh huh huh)

[Verse 1:]
Mama said, "You're a pretty girl.
What's in your head, it doesn't matter
Brush your hair, fix your teeth.
What you wear is all that matters."

[Pre-Hook:]
Just another stage, pageant the pain away
This time I'm gonna take the crown
Without falling down, down, down

[Hook:]
Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever's worst
Perfection is a disease of a nation, pretty hurts, pretty hurts
Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever's worst
We try to fix something but you can't fix what you can't see
It's the soul that needs the surgery

(Uh huh huh)

[Verse 2:]
Blonder hair, flat chest
TV says, "Bigger is better."
South beach, sugar free
Vogue says, "Thinner is better."

[Pre-Hook:]
Just another stage, pageant the pain away
This time I'm gonna take the crown
Without falling down, down, down

[Hook:]
Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever's worst
Perfection is a disease of a nation, pretty hurts, pretty hurts (pretty hurts)
Pretty hurts (pretty hurts), we shine the light on whatever's worst
We try to fix something but you can't fix what you can't see
It's the soul that needs the surgery

[Bridge:]
Ain't got no doctor or pill that can take the pain away
The pain's inside and nobody frees you from your body
It's the soul, it's the soul that needs surgery
It's my soul that needs surgery
Plastic smiles and denial can only take you so far
Then you break when the fake facade leaves you in the dark
You left with shattered mirrors and the shards of a beautiful girl

[Hook:]
Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever's worst (pretty hurts)
Perfection is a disease of a nation, pretty hurts, pretty hurts
Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever's worst
We try to fix something but you can't fix what you can't see
It's the soul that needs the surgery

[Outro:]
When you're alone all by yourself (pretty hurts, pretty hurts)
And you're lying in your bed (pretty hurts, pretty hurts)
Reflection stares right into you (pretty hurts, pretty hurts)
Are you happy with yourself? (pretty hurts, pretty hurts)

You stripped away the masquerade (pretty hurts, pretty hurts)
The illusion has been shed (pretty hurts, pretty hurts)
Are you happy with yourself? (pretty hurts, pretty hurts)
Are you happy with yourself? (pretty hurts, pretty hurts)

Yes
Uh huh huh

Beyonce begins the album with her supposed mother's words, these cause us to think the mother is slightly strange as she cares more about her daughter being beautiful rather than smart, this illuminates the influence mothers have on their yung children as the grow older. 

Beyonce reveals the setting where being beautiful is essential and important, "Pageant the pain away" implies the need for validation for the girls competeing. Being a semi finalist in Miss Teen Great Britain this is something very personal to me, this has also reminded me of a netfilx show called "Insatiable" about a girl in a pageant eith an eating disorder.

While being pretty is something highly looked upon it hurts both those pretty and not, the pretty people have to hurt their body to keep up with what people consider the standard, while the people who are not are hurt by people's judgements on thei apperance. 

People have a bad habit of focusing on the negatives and exaggerating them rather than looking at the positives.

Lots of people belive they can fix their iperfections with plastic surgery but the real reason they're not happy is because they need to fix their heart and soul since beauty is primarilly an internall struggle. 

The South Beach Diet is a fad, which advocates low carbohydrate intake in order to maximize fat loss.