“Bad Wisdom” is sung by Suzanne Vega. These lyrics leave unclear exactly what the underlying cause of shame might be, allowing them to be applied to a number of different situations. The words concern a young girl whose relationships with her friends and with her mother have been irreparably damaged because of some ill-advised sexual experience.
Mother the doctor knows something is wrong
Cause my body has strange information
He’s looked in my eyes and knows I’m not a child
But he doesn’t dare ask the right questionMother my friends are no longer my friends
And the games we once played have no meaning
I’ve gone serious and shy and they can’t figure why
So they’ve left me to my own daydreamingWhat price to pay
For bad wisdom
What price to pay
For bad wisdom
Too young to know
Too much too soon
Bad wisdom
Bad wisdomMother you’ve taught me the laws are so fine
If I’m good that I will be protected
I’ve fallen through the crack and there’s no getting back
And I’ll never trust whoever gets electedMother your eyes have gone suddenly cold
And it wasn’t what I was expecting
Once I did think that I’d find comfort there
And instead you’ve gone hard and suspectingWhat price to pay
For bad wisdom
What price to pay
For bad wisdom
Too young to know
Too much too soon
Bad wisdom
Bad wisdomMother I’m cut at the root like a weed
Cause there’s no one to hear my small story
Just like a woman who walks in the street
I will pay for my life with my bodyWhat price to pay
For bad wisdom
What price to pay
For bad wisdom
Too young to know
Too much too soon
Bad wisdom
Bad wisdom
There is a knowing, an experience of the world that violates the self. It is not clear from the song whether Vega has in mind a victim of abuse or someone who has done things she now deeply regrets. Perhaps the line”I will pay for my life with my body” indicates the young girl concerned has now resigned herself to live a life of prostitution. At any rate, such is the damage done by what has happened that the singer staggers under the weight of its resultant cost: “What price to pay.” The good news is that the price has been paid, as Graham Kendrick’s great song proclaims:
The price is paid
Come let us enter in
To all that Jesus died
To make our own
For every sin
More than enough He gave
And bought our freedom
From each guilty stainChorus:
The price is paid
Alleluia
Amazing grace
So strong and sure
And so with all my heart
My life in every part
I live to thank You for
The price You paidThe price is paid
See Satan flee away
For Jesus crucified
Destroys his power
No more to pay
Let accusation cease
In Christ there is
No condemnation nowThe price is paid
And by that scourging cruel
He took our sicknesses
As if His own
And by His wounds
His body broken there
His healing touch may now
By faith be knownThe price is paid
‘Worthy the Lamb\’ we cry
Eternity shall never
Cease His praise
The church of Christ
Shall rule upon the earth
In Jesus’ name we have
Authority
Posted August 1, 2010
www.facetofaceintercultural.com.au
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