"Growing Pains" is a song by Alessia Cara. It was released on June 15, 2018 and serves as the lead single for her upcoming second studio album, The Pains of Growing.
Background and Release
On June 1, 2018, Cara posted a teaser video after an entire week of vague and cryptic tweets. Following this, she posted lyrics of the song in different social media posts for her fans to piece together. The song's cover and title was announced by Cara on June 11, four days before its release as a prize to her fans for piecing together the lyrics. It discusses the struggle of growing up and a loss of innocence.
The single made its live debut in a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on June 18, 2018. An acoustic version of the song was released via Cara's YouTube channel on June 27.
Music Video
The music video was released on June 20, 2018 and was directed by Alan Masferrer. It shows Cara being pushed around by people in suits and masks wearing a t-shirt that is oversized shirt. During the video, she is forced into a suit herself. The concept represents how scary it can be to grow up and reflects the song's theme.
Lyrics
You're on your own, kid
You are
Make my way through the motions, I try to ignore it
But home's looking farther the closer I get
Don't know why I can't see the end
Is it over yet? Hmm
A short leash and a short fuse don't match
They tell me it ain't that bad, now don't you overreact
So I just hold my breath, don't know why
I can't see the sun when young should be fun
And I guess the bad can get better
Gotta be wrong before it's right
Every happy phrase engraved in my mind
And I've always been a go-getter
There's truth in every word I write
But still, the growing pains, growing pains
They're keeping me up at night
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
And I can't hide 'cause growing pains are keeping me up at night
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey
And I can't hide 'cause growing pains are keeping me up at night
Try to mend what's left of my content incomprehension
As I take on the stress of the mess that I've made
Don’t know if I even care for "grown" if it's just alone, yeah
And I guess the bad can get better
Gotta be wrong before it's right
Every happy phrase engraved in my mind
I've always been a go-getter
There's truth in every word I write
But still, the growing pains, growing pains
They're keeping me up at night
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
And I can't hide 'cause growing pains are keeping me up at night
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey, yeah
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, hey
And I can't hide 'cause growing pains are keeping me up at night
Starting to look like Ms. Know-it-all
Can't take her own advice
Can't find pieces of my peace of mind
I cry more than I want to admit
But I can't lie to myself, to anyone
'Cause phoning it in isn't any fun
Can't run back to my youth the way I want to
The days my brother was quicker to fool
AM radio, not much to do
Used monsters as an excuse to lie awake
Now the monsters are the ones that I have to face
No band-aids for the growing pains
Hey, hey, hey yeah, hey yeah (oh yeah)
Hey, hey, hey yeah, hey yeah
Hey, hey, hey yeah, hey yeah (no, no)
Hey (no band-aids for the growing pains)
Audio