Thursday, January 14, 2010

Loveliness Is A Woman's Obligation And Reward

Tonight after work I went for drinks with some women who work in my office. I've worked at home so long that I've completely forgotten what it's like to hang out with co-workers. I had fun, and as I was driving home, I heard "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton. Now, I'm not much of a Clapton fan, but I like this song, as I think everyone does. Well, most girls do. And as I listened to it, I felt very sad. Sad because I will never inspire that kind of song, as cheesy as it is.

Janeane Garafalo once said in a stand up act that all she could think of while watching the scene in "Chasing Amy" where Ben Affleck tells Joey Lauren Adams how he feels about her in the rain that this would never happen to her. No guy would ever say that kind of stuff to her, and if he did, she'd be a little freaked out because she would not understand why he liked her so much. I think this is how I feel about songs like this. As much as I want to be beautiful and inspiring and amazing, it's just not going to happen. Why? Because if I wanted it that bad, I'd wear makeup more often and pay more attention to my hair.

I remember watching "Blade Runner" at a sci fi marathon (oh geez) 15 years ago. As I was watching the scene where Harrison Ford was throwing around and grabbing and planting very hard kisses on Sean Young (and this is sick of me because basically, this is as close to robot rape as you're gonna get outside of Anime), I started to cry. Like REALLY cry. I was in a crowded theater so I was quiet, but I was quivering. My poor friend Steve was sitting next to me and was trying to ask me what was wrong, but I just didn't know how to explain that I was crying because no one would ever have that much of a desire to kiss me. You can't explain that kind of thing to boys.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this point, or if I have a point. It's just odd to me how cheesy love songs by musicians I don't really care about can make me feel all "I wish I was that girl in the song!" Do you ever outgrow the feeling of wishing a love song is about you?

And honestly, when it comes to men singing about their women at a party, I much prefer Nick Lowe's "Let's Stay In And Make Love". I prefer Nick Lowe's ANYTHING to a Clapton song.

1 comment:

Holly A Hughes said...

Ah, I'd take Nick Lowe's anything. "Let's Stay In" may be the sexiest song ever written, though "Has She Got A Friend" comes close.

I know exactly the feeling you're talking about. It's okay in movies, when you know that your romantic leading man is just an actor reading lines. But in a song, you have the illusion that it's a dialogue, especially in those "you" and "I" songs with no names ("My Love" being about me, "My Sharona" being about someone else). And when you're just about to answer and you realize he's talking to somebody else...