The lyrics, âThere's no use cryin' over spilled blood/ Caring only kills love,â and âI know that the first blow hits you coldâ are metaphors about both relationships and boxing/ fighting, and the line, âa copy of a copy of a copyâ comes from the main characterâs, the Narratorâs, opening monologue in Fight Club:
This is how it is with insomnia. Everything is so far away, a copy of a copy of a copy. The insomnia distance of everything, you can't touch anything and nothing can touch you.
The movie starts with the Narratorâs description of insomnia, of his being numb to trauma and trapped in consumerism. Starbucks and IKEA have become replacements for emotional fulfillment. Later in the movie, we find that the Narrator has insecurities and conflicts inside himself that manifest in various characters, one of whom is a violent, toxic stereotype of a hypermasculine manďżź.
Louisâ song Copy of a Copy of a Copy also starts in a dream state, âItâs an old curse/ dreamers dive in head first.â An emotional trauma can feel like a psychological mindfuck, a place of surreal nightmaresâ depicted with images of dreamers diving headfirst into danger, and birds crashing into glass because their vision has been confused by the reflection.
(This image of birds flying into glass is visceral and marvelous. Emily Dickinson describes Hope as âthe thing with feathers.â The metaphor paints a picture of innocence and romance flying into an ambush.)
The song also addresses the toxicity of the fight withinâ between the âbleedingâ one feels inside and societyâs expectation that men keep a stiff upper lip, keep their heartbreak quiet and suffer alone. The first time we hear the chorus, it sounds bleak and hopeless (and notice the words, âYoung man,â specifically addressing the idea of masculinity):
Young man, hush your crying, dry your tears away
Nothing is original, there's nothing left to say
You won't be the first or be the last to bleed
Every broken heart as far as your eye can see
It's a copy of a copy of a copy
However, just like in Walls, a change happens in the course of the songâ a revelation or epiphany. In Walls, itâs the change of meaning in the line, âNothing wakes you up/ like waking up alone,â from the opening to the closing of the song. A story has been told in between, and âwaking upâ has transformed in meaning. At the start, Louis is waking up alone after a break up, but at the end, he has âwoken upâ to a realization about his former unhealthy relationship and a recognition his self-worth.
In Coacoa, the revelation is the reassurance that we donât suffer in emptiness. Suffering is heard: âI can hear you, howlin' 'til your lungs hurt.â Louis doesnât brush away or dismiss this pain; he acknowledges it. He knows that men cry, and he knows how it feels.
The epiphany is that suffering is humanâ and we can empathize with pain and loss.
So let this be your comfort
You're not the only one, no
In a strange way, [weâre] all in this together
Been this way forever, you're not the only one
When Louis sings the prechorus for the second time, it now sounds sympathetic, protective, tender:
I know that the first blow hits you cold
And the chorus takes on a different meaning. Heartbreak is always brutal, but we can help each other.
(If youâre interested in an academic paper on the hypermasculinity and homoeroticism depicted in Fight Club, read this.)
Coacoac gives this epiphany a little musical âpunchâ (forgive the pun!) by using a whole-step modulation for the chorus.
The verse (how the song starts) is in a minor key, g# minor, whose relative major is B major. This is a key with five sharps: F, C, G, D, and A.
The chorus (starting with âYoung manâ) is in a major key, the key of D-flat major. This is a key with five flats: B, E, A, D, and G.
A minor-to-major key change is common in pop music to depict a change of mood. We hear it in Beatles songs like Blackbird, where the first line ends in major chord, the second in minor; the contrast creates shifting moods and poignancy. A good example in Louisâ solo music is Fearless, where the Verse is in minor, the Prechorus is a transition, and the Chorus is in a major key. They are in relative keysâ the minor and major keys share the same notes of the scale.
Thatâs not what happens in Coacoac. Here, the Chorus uses a completely different scale. Instead of going to the relative major of Verse 1 (which would be B major), the key of the Chorus moves up a whole tone to D-flat. This is the reason for Michaelâs guitar slide in between, a glissando being the smoothest and fastest way to modulate the key by a whole tone (since the keys are not harmonically related).
(Pop musicâs best demonstration of chromatic modulation is at the end of BeyoncĂŠâs Love on Top, which is just Bey showing off her vocal range! 3:22 here)
Moreover, the jump from F#3 (F# below middle C, where âhits you coldâ ends) to A-flat4 (A-flats above middle C, where âYoung manâ starts) is a spectacular vocal leap, especially with nothing in the bass to help the singer. A ninth interval is not easy to hit.
Louis has to hit that note cold during a harmonic modulationâ the vocal equivalent of a triple axel â not the most difficult trick but spectacular in execution.
Listen to Louis sing it here at 0:52. He knows he nailed it.
Copy of a Copy of a Copy is a study on loss, disappointment, and the consolation that one is not alone. Unlike the movie from which the lyric takes its inspiration, the song gives us permission to grieve, and embraces the grieving into our fold. Weâre all in this together, until we arenât.
