“Thick Skull” by Paramore

On “Thick Skull”, Hayley Williams is intentionally taking on the role of the villain. However, she is not doing so for sinister reasons. Rather, according to the songstress, she has unjustifiably been dealing with a bad reputation via some parties for years.

These people, most notable it would seem former Paramore member Josh Farro, did indeed criticize Hayley and this act as a whole. What he basically asserted is that the purpose of the band is not genuine, basically serving the purpose of furthering Williams’ solo ambition, which by the looks of things are accusations she’s had to contend with throughout the years (even though it would seem that the opposite is true).

Besides that, there are also the general naysayers who like to take a crack out of spoiling the songstress’s day. So with “Thick Skull”, she decided to give the haters what they wanted, i.e. embracing the negative characteristics they have placed upon her.

Or, at least that’s the way Williams has described the meaning behind this piece. According to Williams, who is now 34 years old, “This Is Why” is the last project Paramore is dropping under the contract she signed way back in her teenage years. So she wanted to close out this chapter in the band’s history by leaving all of the aforenoted negativity behind. And the singer deemed that dropping this song, as the last on the playlist of the album, would be an effective way of doing so.

That said, it isn’t as if you’re actually going to get all of the above from these lyrics. Yes, the vocalist does present herself as someone with a “thick skull”. That’s a colloquialism which is designated onto a person who is stubborn and more specifically doesn’t learn from his or her mistakes.

So in the chorus, Hayley depicts herself as a glutton for punishment – in a manner of speaking – a person who keeps having to learn the “same lesson again”. And she also acknowledges that having a “thick skull never did nothing for (her)”.  But to reiterate, it is as if Williams is confessing guilt to finally have the case closed, to conclusively get the haters off her back, so to speak.

“Hit over the head
(Epiphany)
Over my head
(Repeatedly)
Thick skull never did
(Nothing for me)
Same lesson again
(Come on, give it to me)
(Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me)”

Credits and Release of “Thick Skull”

“Thick Skull” may be the last song on the playlist of Paramore’s album “This Is Why”, but it was actually the first that Hayley Williams and Taylor York wrote for the project.

Atlantic Records released it as such on 10 February 2023, with the executive producer of the entire project being Carlos de la Garza.