The Fighter

"What breaks your bones is not the load you're carrying, what breaks you down is all in how you carry." -The Fighter

Regarding the background of the song, during a performance at the University at Buffalo, Issac Slade mentions that he wrote the song "The Fighter" while on a "getaway" in a cottage, located in the mountains of Colorado. The song was inspired by a picture called "Strictly a Sharpshooter" by Norman Rockwell that he saw in a book he purchased. The painting depicts a boxer who has succumbed to his opponent, and a female companion by his side.

The thing that is wonderful about the Fray's lyrics is their ability to make one song individual to so many people. In a sense, I think it can be up to your own interpretation. The literal meaning of the song is that the man is a boxer, and even though his significant other loves him, he goes off to fight, reassuring her (I know I know I know) that it is his last fight. In the end, she is by his side as he is dying (he's not coming home) from an unexpected hit (he never even saw the swing).

A second interpretation is a less literal one, and my first impression of the song before I knew Issac's inspiration. When I first actually listened to the lyrics, it made me think of John Mayer's song "Assasin," because of the use of a metaphor of a fighter to symbolize the way relationships can be sometimes. The woman is in love with a man who is incapable of returning that love, and she tries to hold on to him as he is slipping away. He's a man who can't commit his love to her and always thought he would be alone (maybe we were meant to be lonely), but is questioning that belief (maybe we don't have to be all alone). He does his best to return that love (he swings with all his might at all that might have been) and she gets even more desperate (she calls out his name, she begs him not to go), but in the end, their attempts are futile because he leaves (somehow they both know, that he's not coming home). He leaves, questioning his decision, and we are left wondering if he will return... Loneliness has always been with me, with me Maybe we were meant to be on our own But I got to try or it will destroy me Cause maybe we don't have to be all alone

Literally, the verses are about a fighter and his lover. In the first verse, he is preparing for a fight but his girl is worried. He reassures her even though he's not sure about what's going to happen. In the second, he is in the midst of the fight thinking about their love, when he is hit hard. Then in the third, she is holding him as they both know that he is about to die.

The chorus is amazing. That's all I really have to say about that.

Then there's the bridge. You can pretty much count on every Fray song having one of these types of lines. One that if you didn't know better you might think is an ancient proverb or something. "What breaks your bones is not the load you're carrying. What breaks you down is all in how you carry." Regardless of what you're going through, as long as have the right attitude, you can get through it.

Also, in the second verse I believe it's "The doubt is creepin in" and "And all that might have been."

I don't think it's literally about a boxer or fighter, but metaphorically about guys in general, we are all "fighters" when it comes to relationships. I know I am. I'm always fighting whether this is the girl I want to be with for the rest of my life, or if I could do better so I start to get all these doubts about the girl. She always asks why I'm fighting all the time, why I just couldn't be satisfied with the relationship. But the truth is, I kept fighting. As soon as I enter the ring, doubts are creepin in, and the doubt swings at me like a ton of bricks, and down goes the relationship. Down goes everything we ever went through, even if it was for a year and a half. I speak on behalf of a girl I let go, the girl of my dreams, the perfect one for me, because I kept having doubts and I kept thinking there was something better. I kept fighting, I am The Fighter.

Maybe I was meant to be lonely, but we don't all have to all alone. But I got to try it, or it will destroy me.

Guys, try it. Try to love your girl with everything you have, don't fight it. She is perfect for you.

-I inform you all that I'm italian, so if there will be any grammar mistake, forgive me ;)

The first time I listened to this song and read the lyrics, I got chills. I think it speaks about a couple, where he's the Fighter (not only for work, but in life too) and she's the one who tries to convince him not to fight. Actually it looks like he's going to change his mind (The Fighter said I know, I know, I know.) but he HAS to go, and he tries to reassure the girl.

But she undestands something's wrong: look at the lyrics of the chorus, it looks like it's the girl thinking that they were both destinated to remain alone, as she has alwais been, but then she hopes she won't be alone.

Then the match, he doesn't see a punch, which hits him so strong that he falls on the floor, he probably hits his head, too. She runs next to him, she prays him not to go (here we see how 'she begged him not to go' is used with 2 different meanings: in the first occasion, she's asking him not to go on the ring, not to go away from her; in the second, she's asking him not to die, not to leave her.), she kisses him and they both understand he's going to die anyway.

In the end there's the chorus again :)

I don't think it's literally about a fight like boxing I think it's about in a relationship the boy keeps making a mistake that hurts the girl and it's like it's in his head. He knows it hurts her but he can't/won't/doesn't stop doing it. Maybe he doesn't realize it is hurting her because he puts himself first. The girl keeps loving him and taking him back and fighting for their relationship but he keeps messing up. He can't help that he keeps doing this thing that hurts her because it is who he is. Maybe the fight is symbolic for something that he's fighting with himself that gets in the way of their relationship. Maybe he has a mental illness, like OCD for example. When you have a problem like that, you come first. You have to take care of yourself first. It's just how your head works. Or maybe he has an anxiety problem. I know how it feels and you don't think about if your hurting other people while it's happening because you're so soaked up in yourself (during a panic attack for example). He tries to stop letting the illness take control over him because he knows it hurts her and he loves her but he's not strong enough. She loves him and believes in him but she feels like it's never going to end sometimes and the illness will win over their relationship. That's what I get from it.

This is definitely my favorite song on Scars And Stories. It's a very sad story... the lover begs the fighter not to go, he goes anyway and gets hurt, they hold each other as he dies... Personally I never thought he died at the end, I thought his reputation was merely ruined, but after reading some interpretations here I've changed my mind.

potentially about a man in the army..a man who fights for the the country and does not make it back to his love