"Scars" is the second single from Californianrock band Papa Roach's fourth album, Getting Away with Murder, and seventh released single in total. "Scars" was considered to be a comeback single for the band, despite being unlike their usual work on the album. The single was certified gold (500, 000 units sold) on June 6, 2005.
The song, according the band's video album Papa Roach: Live & Murderous in Chicago tells the story of Jacoby Shaddix's "Horrible night in Vegas that changed my life." During live performances before playing the song Shaddix often talks about how "the song saved his life". Not only the song beaten Last Resort as it's highest charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, it was also their first and only Top 40 hit peaking at #15. The song hit #2 and #4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts and this song became their 1st and only pop hit hitting #7 on the Pop Songs chart. This is the band's most successful in the U.S. although Last Resort was more successful internationally chart wise and Last Resort hit #1 on the modern rock chart where Scars failed to do so by 1 spot. Aside from the massive success and popularity of their signature song (Last Resort), Scars is the band's 2nd most popular and 2nd most successful song to date.
Music video
The song's video tells the story of Shaddix's girlfriend, played by Taylor Cole, who is a drunk and parties too much. One day, she gets too drunk and passes out at a party at Shaddix's house. She wakes up the following morning with a hangover, and, grabbing her coat, knocks over a candle, which lands on a mat on the floor. The mat is stained with her drink from the night before. She lights the house on fire unknowingly, and goes home. When Shaddix arrives home, his house is burnt down. The girlfriend comes back to the ruin and sees what happened and realized what she did. The band performs this song on top of the burnt remains of Shaddix's house. This video project was directed by Motion Theory.
A completely different CGI video was shot for the song first. This first video consists in a black-and-white scenery, completely fictional and surreal. In this one, Shaddix and the band defeat another girl that seems to be a monster or a witch. The band was not pleased with it and ended up shooting the video mentioned above.
Lead singer Jacoby Shaddix wrote the song after being taken to hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada with 11 staples in his head in an act of self-harm. Shaddix told MTV News that the song was "about trying to help someone who really doesn't want you to help them".
On a popular radio countdown show, American Top 40 hosted by Ryan Seacrest, "Scars" peaked at #6 in August 2005, and spent 50 weeks in the chart from April 2005 to March 2006.
Papa Roach are well known for singing many of their songs in Spanish as well, "Scars" is among them.
This is the highest charting single of Papa Roach on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #15.
A variation of the lyric "Our scars remind us, that the past is real" can also be found in Hannibal Lecter's closing monologue in the 2002 film Red Dragon. Interestingly enough, the last name of one of the victims of Red Dragon's antagonist is Jacobi, similarly to first name of Papa Roach's lead singer.
