Music Review: Train & Ashley Monroe "Bruises"

Train & Ashley Monroe

Bruises

Album: California 37

Year: 2012

          Pat Monahan runs into an old friend in the neighborly “Bruises.”

            A chipper guitar opens the single, setting a padded tone.  Monahan stares at his choices on the snack aisle, trying to decide between a bag of chips, a candy bar or a danish. As he reaches for the danish, he hears a laugh he’d recongnize anywhere. Looking up, he sees his first crush striding inside the gas station. He heads towards the magazines, where is she is standing. He gives her a wide smile and exclaims“hello!”  While he checks out her out, his eyes on her breasts, he tells her she looks good. He adds that she must live in a mansion now with her husband (the oncogolist?).

         Ashley Monroe says she has two children now. However, he husband had an affair with one his nurses, dumping her two years ago. Changing the subject, she says she’s proud of him for getting out. Otherwise, he would’ve ended up like her. (“Haven't seen you since high school/Good to see you're still beautiful/Gravity hasn't started to pull/Quite yet; I bet you're rich as hell/One that's five and one that's three/Been two years since he left me/Good to know that you got free/That town I know was keeping you down/On your knees.”)

              In the chorus, they say it’s great to see each other again. They prefer to talk about what’s been really been going on in their lives than bragging about a fantastic life that doesn’t exist. They thought big things would happen after high school. However, it’s been one disappointment after another. (“These bruises make for better conversation/Loses the vibe that separates/It's good to let you in again/You're not alone in how you've been/Everybody loses/We all got bruises/We all got bruises.’)

             He asks her if she still talks to Joe, her high school sweetheart. They dated junior year and were one of the cutest couples. She says no but saw pictures of him with his wife and newborn on Facebook , though. She asks him if he still talks to his old high school girlfriend. He responds no but he found out she lives in New York now and is married to a really great guy. Monroe spills that his ex would always say that they were going to be married one day. She tells him she was at dinner one night with some friends when she saw Johnny. He says they talk all the time. He says he has to go but they should stay in touch. She tells him it’s been a long time. It seems like just yesterday they graduated. He wants to continue to catching up with her but he has to go. She reminds him of all the promise and hope he had as a kid. (“Have you seen him? (Not in years)/How 'bout her?/(No, but I hear she's in Queens with the man of her dreams)/Funny, back then she said that about you/Que sera, you'll never guess who I saw/Remember Johnny B.?/Remember him? We're best friends practically!/Let's do this soon again/Ten years about what it's been?/Can't believe how time flies by/Leaving you makes me wanna cry.”)

             The chorus is sung again.

             In the bridge, they both say they would like to go back, knowing what they do now. But at the same time, those mistakes made them who they are. (“I would love to fix it all for you (I would love to fix you too)/Please don't fix a thing whatever you do.”)

                The chorus is sung three times.

              In the final section, they repeat “we all got bruises” three times to end the single.
 

         At first,  Monahan’s  teasing, gushing vocals punch her in the arm as he reverts back to the 12-year-old who was intimidated by her in middle school. Meanwhile, Monroe’s well-mannered, plain vocals attempt to set Monahan’s straight on long-held fantasy image of her life. By the second verse, she has gotten into the conversation, thinking she’ll send him a friend request on Facebook when she gets home. However, he blows her off. He’s been wanting to talk with her for years and it’s a letdown. He pictured her much different. Now, she’s just pathetic and sad. His rudeness is appalling as she remains pleasant.

             The  uncomfortable “Bruises” smiles through clenched teeth, searching for a reason to escape the encounter.