☝️ Key Points
- The singer expresses a deep pain and heartache over a past relationship that has deeply hurt him.
- He uses the metaphor 'The first cut is the deepest' to illustrate how deeply his first love marked him.
- Although he is open to loving again, he is aware that every subsequent love will always be overshadowed by the first injury.
- The singer shows an ambivalence towards his first love - although it made him unhappy, it was the first person who truly loved him.
- The song lyrics reflect the difficulty of leaving the past behind and venturing into a new love when the scars of the first love are still palpable.
Interpretation
The song lyrics 'The First Cut Is the Deepest' by
Cat Stevens are about the painful experience of a disappointed love and the hesitant willingness to open up to love again.
The singer talks about a past relationship that broke his heart: 'But there's someone who's torn it apart'. This loss has deeply hurt him, which is represented by the recurring metaphor 'The first cut is the deepest'. With this image, he compares heartache to a deep wound that hurts the most and takes the longest to heal.
Despite the pain suffered, the singer shows readiness to love again and open up: 'But if you want, I'll try to love again'. However, he is aware that this new love won't be the same as the first one, as that first injury will always be present.
The lines 'When it comes to being lucky she's cursed / When it comes to lovin' me she's worst / But when it comes to being loved she's first' underline the singer's ambivalence. He recognizes that his past love made him unhappy ('she's cursed'), but at the same time, she was the first one to truly love him ('she's first').
Overall, the song expresses the difficulty of letting go of the past and opening up to a new love when still marked by the scars of the first love.