It's Hard to Say I'm Sorry.

 Humans are weird. We’re strange, unnatural, hypocritical beings, and many of us still don’t understand compassion. Just turn on the news, and you’ll see some story of indescribable hate and lack of empathy. Some murder, some terrorist attack, some robbery. Some world. The song that I think describes where I am right now describes where I am at any moment. It describes an aspect of human life that can only be found in people who are apologetic, who admit to their wrongdoings and try to move on. I think that almost everyone at Uni is like this, so most of you should relate too. 

The song that I’m talking about is actually a love song, but I understand it as much more. It transcends topics, ideas and people. Even its name, “Hard to Say I’m Sorry”, could be interpreted as almost anything. The song describes a man who has done something bad to his partner, and is, as a most rudimentary term, apologizing. At first glance, the song is undoubtedly a love song, there is no argument about it. It was meant as a love song, and was consumed as a love song. However, it doesn’t have to be consumed that way. At least, when I listen to it, I don’t necessarily understand it that way.

The main lyrics go like this: “after all that we’ve been through, I will make it up to you, I promise to. And after all that we’ve said and done, you’re just a part of me I can’t let go”. We have all felt this way, no matter the context. We have all had an experience where we hurt someone close to us. No matter if it was a big thing or a small thing, we’ve all done it. And (I hope), we’ve all felt apologetic about it. 

Like I said before, this song doesn’t describe where I am in life right now. It always describes where I am in life. The truth is, humans will always feel sorry about something. We do things, and then we regret ever doing them. We hurt people, and then we regret ever hurting them. We make bad decisions.

I constantly think about things I have done in the past. Ways I have hurt people, both indirectly and directly, both recently and not recently. They haunt me, like a ghost. Even though it may seem stupid to still be thinking about something I did or said in fourth grade, I just can’t help it. Once I get into reminiscing about things that I could have done differently, the flow starts. Over and over again, different occurrences pop into my head, spawning potential changes that I could have made in order to make the effects smaller, in order to avoid the situation entirely.

“Hold me now, it’s hard for me to say I’m sorry, I just want you to know”. This is the other line that sticks out to me whenever I listen to the song. The fact that he is letting the other person know that apologizing is difficult for him really  hits home, because everyone has had a time when they did something wrong, and saying sorry was an incredibly hard thing to do, but we sucked it up and did it anyway. 

The song hits at the most raw, integral part of the human experience: apologizing. Even though we do things that hurt others, we still find the need to suck it up and show that you regret doing it. Looking at it from a different perspective, it seems kind of stupid: an apology doesn’t guarantee regret, doesn’t guarantee change. Honestly, humans are weird.


Comments

  1. Luke YouOctober 4, 2021 at 8:52 AM

    I think this prompt was really interesting. I like how you didn't just stick with the traditional understanding of the song you chose. You were able to find more meaning from it and could apply it to areas other than love. And, I liked how you were vulnerable and honest when you talk about how you've hurt others in the past and how you still think about what you could have done differently, even though that logically wouldn't have many benefits.

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  2. Ryan WangOctober 4, 2021 at 6:35 PM

    I think your blog post did a great job of relating to the reader. I've never listened to the song before, but you do a great job describing the meaning you take away from it. I liked how the post tackled a topic that us as humans aren't comfortable talking about, and how you were able to write the post in a raw, reminiscing way. Great job!

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  3. Navid TajkhorshidOctober 6, 2021 at 11:36 AM

    You did a great job of ramping up the emotion and personality of the essay, starting with a general statement and then homing in on your specific experience. The ending was also nice, looping back to your first sentence after the emotional journey. If there was one thing I were to recommend, it would be to include one or two of your experiences when explaining what exactly you would like to do differently. Overall, great job!

    P.S. You have a double space at "for him really hits" :)

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