Candi Carpenter
Tooth
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Prepare yourself for a lump in your throat when you listen to this atmospheric and emotional track from Candi Carpenter.
In ‘Tooth’, a friendship breakup is compared to pulling teeth, with a story wrapped around this metaphor that’s a bit of an emotional ride. Like all of Candi’s recent songwriting, there’s a rawness that makes it connect deeply. Musically, there’s a guitar line that repeats through the verse, with just some extra tone added through subtle synth. The simplicity of the music just makes it land harder.
I lost my best friend of over a decade, and it felt like losing part of myself. It was an ugly breaking off; a falling out. Writing “Tooth” was my attempt to find a little closure, but it didn’t work. Nobody else will ever care about our private jokes or our shared memories.
She saved my life as many times as she threatened to destroy it. I miss her, and I always will, but I’m in less pain without her. Losing a tooth won’t kill you, but it’ll never grow back. The part of me that was her is gone now. The wound is closed, but I’ll always feel the empty space.
Candi Carpenter
This is certainly a sad song, and listening to it may be a form of catharsis, but it’s also a great song.
Listen to Candi Carpenter – ‘Tooth’.
Tooth Lyrics
You said being alive is a type of terminal illness
But you called me in tears when Alexander McQueen died
You were the person who helped me finally get checked into rehab
But you drink five Martinis and tell me you were good to driveYou were less than a lover
More than a friend
Like a co-dependent mother
With MunchausenLosing you was painful and messy
Like pulling a tooth out with a string
And I still can taste the blood in my mouth
When I bite down on anythingI got food poisoning three times when you made us dinner
But I loved you, so I ate your cooking anyway
And we were both healing from similar childhood trauma
But I think you liked me better when I wasn’t doing okayYou were more than a friend
Less than a lover
You were more significant than
Any otherLosing you was painful and messy
Like pulling a tooth out with a string
And I still can taste the blood in my mouth
When I bite down on anythingAnd I hate what it did to my smile
I hate what it did to my smileAnd you hated drinking water
And going to the dentist
And I trusted you more than
Both of my parents
Now it’s hard to remember everything about you
But I still feel an empty space without youLosing you was painful and messy
Like pulling a tooth out with a string
And I still can taste the blood in my mouth
When I bite down on anything
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