Lyrics for Art Is Hard as interpreted by ruben

Art Is Hard Lyrics
Cut it out
Your self-inflicted pain
Is getting too routine
The crowds are catching on
To the self-afflicted song
So here we go again:
The art of acting weak
Fall in love to fail
To boost your CD sales

And that CD sells
Yeah, what a hit
You've got to repeat it
You've got to sink to swim

First you don't, you don't succeed
You've got to recreate your misery
You all know art is hard
Young artists have got to starve
Try and fail and try again
The comforts of repetition
Keep churning out those hits
Until it's all the same old shit

Oh, a second verse
Well color me fatigued
I'm hiding in the leaves
Of the CD jacket sleeves
Tired of entertaining
Some double-dipped meaning
A soft served analogy
Those drunken, angry slurs
Yeah, thirty-one flavors

Got to sink, got to sink, got to sink to swim
Immerse yourself in rejection
Regurgitate some sorry tale
About a boy who sells his love affairs
Got to fake, fake, fake the pain
Got to make, make, make it sting
Got to break, break, break a leg
When you get on stage
And they scream your name

Oh, Cursive is so cool

Got to sink, got to sink, got to sink to swim
Impersonate greater persons
Because we all know art is hard
When we don't know who we are

Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!

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  • 61 Comments
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the ashlee
06-14-2003

Rated 0 
tim's saying how when you write a song or get on stage you have to re-enact your pain. he's pretty much mocking that whole idea.

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xrachiex
06-19-2003

Rated 0 
Tim Kasher seems to be describing the act of "selling out". That to "boost your cd sales", you have to be someone that you're not, you have to conform to the ideals of everyone else. You're no longer putting out albumns full of emotion that you personally feel, you're putting forth an albumn that will only please the public. In other words, Kasher's criticising artists who make music for money, instead of because they love it.

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xrachiex
06-19-2003

Rated +1 
Tim Kasher seems to be describing the act of "selling out". That to "boost your cd sales", you have to be someone that you're not, you have to conform to the ideals of everyone else. You're no longer putting out albumns full of emotion that you personally feel, you're putting forth an albumn that will only please the public. In other words, Kasher's criticising artists who make music for money, instead of because they love it.

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cursingsailor
06-20-2003

Rated 0 
i thk the ashlee was right...

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dorareever
06-21-2003

Rated 0 
I think that is not about selling out,is about self-loathing,and is self-ironic.He criticizes himself.The selling out theory doesn't sit well with me,I think these lyrics are deeper than that.

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misread
06-25-2003

Rated 0 
i think this song is about how, when you write something personal to get something off your chest or whatever, you have to reenact what the song meant to you for stage show (possibly aimed at dashboard confessional who cries during his songs). after a while, it all starts to become an act of showmanship instead of an act of actual emotional significance. or maybe it's the public's want for artists to do something like that (cry) on stage when they sing their songs that are "touching," and their want of heartbreaking lyrics (artists have got to starve). i know the emo crowd loves that.

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fetology
04-18-2004

Rated 0 
I dedicate this song to Conor Oberst.

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dorareever
04-26-2004

Rated 0 
I like the break a leg line. break a leg as you wish to actors before they go on stage, but it also links well to the first verse :

cut it out
your self-inflicted pain
is getting too routine
the fans are catching on
to the self-afflicted song

nice.
I think that reading a couple interviews would help you to understand the song better its not about selling out or conor oberst or anything remotely similar.

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dressdtothenines
04-30-2004

Rated 0 
just a couple corrections on the lyrics.

it's -the crowds are catching on

the anabashed weak -is-The art of acting weak

yeah, the artists have gotta starve-is-young artists have gotta starve

double deaf meaning-is-double dipped meaning

yeah, thirty one letters-is-in thirty one flavors

make the scene-is-make it sting

oh kasher, he's so cool-is-oh cursive is so cool

the person the grave to exist-is-impersonate greater persons

and we don't know who we are-is-when we don't know who we are

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losemoney
05-24-2004

Rated 0 
Isnt this song just as much about him as it is about bands like dashboard and bright eyes? I mean a lot of Cursive's songs are about how Kasher's wife left him and fucked him over.

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elodie
05-26-2004

Rated 0 
i really think this song is about both things. meaning, about the showmanship and fakeness of emotion and self pity (i.e. dashboard, emo) but also, realizing at the same time, that sometimes that he himself does that. and he is really bad and bitter about that part of himself.

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pakistaniman
06-12-2004

Rated 0 
he knows it's about his band too, because he talks about "a soft serve analogy" while making an analogy to ice cream. i'm pretty sure this is about those bands that start in music to express emotion, then when they get bigger they have to keep writing emotional songs to please their fans. what started as real music that you made for you, has now turned into something you do for other people. just me.

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orange
06-17-2004

Rated 0 
I always thought people look at Cursive lyrics a bit too deeply. When I hear this song, I kind of zoom in on the "Your self-inflicted pain is getting too routine." part. It sounds like...I dunno, a J-Lo situation where she'd get married or in a relationship, then fall out to get herself media coverage. Then her music sells. But I'm sure it could apply to, like, the lovely Conor Oberst and his usual (lovely) whining.

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punkrockchick217
10-24-2004

Rated 0 
um, sorry...but correction it's not "oh kasher, he's so cool " it's "oh, Cursive is so cool!"

that was bugging me...sorry

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lalalamusic
10-27-2004

Rated 0 
He is writing this to epitimize the idea of hypocrit. That is what so many song writers do they make everything seem worse then it is so they can write about how much it hurts. He even noticed himself doing it so he wrote it to as a story about young artists. That's why is says "young artist gotta starve" (lyrics above are wrong) Also, it never even says Tim Krasher is says when you get on stage and they scream your name, "oh cursive is so cool!" It is suppose to be ironic!

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764-mouser
11-13-2004

Rated 0 
I think he means that his fans love the amount of sorrow he puts into his song and he generally makes songs about negativity and his songs sell. So in order to make more money and be a hit he has to experience more sorrow and put that into the music he writes. And he is mad because of this.

Its weird, my 3 favorite bands always seem to be linked, no linked, but fans share all 3 somehow: Cursive, Bright Eyes and Modest Mouse. If I'm in a forum or discussing one of these bands, someone will bring up one of the others.....just an observation

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wellwhiskey
11-24-2004

Rated 0 
when i first heard this song i thought it was about Conor Oberst whilst also being about himself. when most people criticize others it tends to be what they are insecure bout themselves.

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lifted to the sky
11-29-2004

Rated 0 
the ugly organ means his penis

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xneverenderx
12-02-2004

Rated 0 
In many songs on this album Tim expresses his frustration over the whole music process from "i'm writing songs to entertain, but these people they only want pain" to "so why do i think i'm any diffrent - i've been makin money off my indiffrence" to in one song Tim's girlfriends poing of view - "and each album i'll get shit on a little more - whose tim's latest whore?"

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fritobandito
12-28-2004

Rated 0 
wow, these lyrics are so very, very poorly written out. my god. there's a mistake every two lines. heh.

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ANewFriend43
01-04-2005

Rated 0 
this song is amazing... people use their pain for attention, it sells and it's annoying him

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wildflower29561
01-15-2005

Rated 0 
haha, in response to fetology "i dedicate this song to conor oberst"

i loved that.

i really do enjoy bright eyes but sometimes all thge mush gets a little too over-overwhelming.

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man on tv
01-27-2005

Rated 0 
what does "yeah, thirty one letters" mean

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my_own_parasite
02-05-2005

Rated 0 
how is it that conor is mentionned in practically all the discussions about cursive, i know they are similar and both on saddle-creek and whatnot, and i really like bright eyes too, but it gets a little annoying.

Anyways, i really like this song, he's just talking about how pain sells.

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hannahbear
02-09-2005

Rated 0 
i agree with my own parasite haha every cursive lyric i've seen on here someone says something about conor.

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