Peak
71
Weeks
20
Score
962
Chart Year
2013
The music video for the song "Battle Scars" was filmed in New York in locations including industrial areas with destroyed cars and burning oil drums and ruined derelict buildings, where Sebastian and Fiasco are shown performing the song. Individuals filmed in a variety of cityscapes are shown periodically, expressing their sadness and personal scars by writing and holding up signs with words that show how they feel. The words they use include "abandoned", "abused", "fatherless", "outcast", "empty", "slave" and "bullied". Near the end of the video they tear up their signs to symbolise moving on from their hurt. Reviewer Kate Winch gave the video a four out of five rating saying, "This video follows a classic music video style, showing the artists performing with additional actors staring wistfully in cut aways. As always, there is a reason that something becomes a classic and that is because it works – just as it does here.
Lupe teamed up with Australian singer-songwriter Guy Sebastian for this R&B/rock hybrid. Sebastian was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003 and has gone on to become one of the most successful recording artists of the 21st century in his home country. This was his sixth #1 single in Australia - no other Australian male artist has ever achieved as many. Speaking with Australian radio network Nova, Sebastian explained the song's meaning. "It's about your own personal battle scars," he said, "and for every individual those are different; some might be words or labels... it might be relationship scars. When I wrote this song, and when Lupe wrote his bits, we just really wanted it to be something that just inspired people to, sort of, confront those things, and also maybe try and work to think about burying and ripping up those labels; throwing them away." Fiasco came to Sebastian's Sydney studio to record his rap. He arrived with two versions of it already written, and after listening to his first war-orientated one, Sebastian decided it portrayed the emotion of the track so well that he didn't even need to listen to his second rhyme.
The wound heals but it never does That's cause you're at war with love You're at war with love, yeah These battle scars, don't look like they're fading Don't look like they're ever going away They ain't never gonna change These battle Never let a wound ruin me But I feel like ruin's wooing me Arrow holes that never close from cupid on a shooting spree Feeling stupid cause I know it ain't no you and me But when you're trying to beat the odds up Been trying to keep your nods up and you know that you should know And let her go but the fear of the unknown Holding another lover's phone sends you back into the zone With no Tom Hanks to bring you home A lover not a fighter on the front line with a poem Trying to write yourself a rifle Maybe sharpen up a song To fight the tanks and drones of you being alone I wish I never looked, I wish I never touched I wish that I could stop loving you so much Cause I'm the only one that's trying to keep us together When all of the signs say that I should forget her I wish you weren't the best, the best I ever had I wish that the good outweighed the bad Cause it'll never be over, until you tell me it's over These battle scars, don't look like they're fading Don't look like they're ever going away They ain't never gonna change These battle scars, don't look like they're fading Don't look like they're ever going away They ain't never gonna change These battle (And just leave then) You shouldn't have but you said it (And I hope you never come back) It shouldn't have happened but you let it Now you're down on the ground screaming medic The only thing that comes is the post-traumatic stresses Shields, body armours and vests Don't properly work, that's why you're in a locker full of hurt The enemy within and all the fires from your friends The best medicine is to probably just let her win I wish I couldn't feel, I wish I couldn't love I wish that I could stop 'cause it hurts so much And I'm the only one that's trying to keep us together When all of the signs say that I should forget her I wish you weren't the best, the best I ever had I wish that the good outweighed the bad Cause it'll never be over, until you tell me it's over These battle scars, don't look like they're fading Don't look like they're ever going away They ain't never gonna change These battle scars, don't look like they're fading Don't look like they're ever going away They ain't never gonna change These battle 'Cause you've set me on fire I've never felt so alive, yeah Hoping wounds heal, but it never does That's because you're at war with love And I'm at the point of breaking And it's impossible to shake it See, you hoped the wound heals, but it never does That's cause you're at war with love Hope it heals, but it never does That's cause you're at war with love! These battle scars, don't look like they're fading Don't look like they're ever going away They ain't never gonna change These battle scars, don't look like they're fading Don't look like they're ever going away They ain't never gonna change These battle scars, don't look like they're fading Don't look like they're ever going away They ain't never gonna change These battle
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 15, 2012 | 73 | 53 |
| 19 | Jan 19, 2013 | 99 | 27 |
| 20 | Jan 26, 2013 | 96 | 30 |
| 21 | Feb 2, 2013 | 88 | 38 |
| 22 | Feb 9, 2013 | 81 | 45 |
| 23 | Feb 16, 2013 | 81 | 45 |
| 24 | Feb 23, 2013 | 81 | 45 |
| 25 | Mar 2, 2013 | 86 | 40 |
| 26 | Mar 9, 2013 | 77 | 49 |
| 27 | Mar 16, 2013 | 79 | 47 |
| 28 | Mar 23, 2013 | 78 | 48 |
| 29 | Mar 30, 2013 | 79 | 47 |
| 30 | Apr 6, 2013 | 76 | 50 |
| 31 | Apr 13, 2013 | 71 | 55 |
| 32 | Apr 20, 2013 | 72 | 54 |
| 33 | Apr 27, 2013 | 71 | 55 |
| 34 | May 4, 2013 | 71 | 55 |
| 35 | May 11, 2013 | 72 | 54 |
| 36 | May 18, 2013 | 77 | 49 |
| 37 | May 25, 2013 | 80 | 46 |