Music Misconceptions

So if you know me you probably know that I love the Beatles. I love them. Even Ringo. Perhaps, especially Ringo. I’ve loved little Richard Starkey since he was still on his mama’s tit. That might be a bit misleading as I was born the year John was killed. I just say it to illustrate exactly how much I love John, Paul, George and Ringo. I was raised on their music. It is the foundation of my musical tastes.

September 19th was a big day for me this year. Yep it was the day of the Guitar Hero or Rock Band or Whateverthehellit’scalled hit the shelves. A day I eagerly anticipated. 10:00am came and I was at my movie store to rent it (I’m poor, sue me). I get it home and I ROCK OUT! I mean I am rocking so hard that I make up a back-story for myself as the big tittied 5th Beatle who not only rocked hard but often inspired the lads. Dear Prudence… that was me. Because I am quite prudent and a bit reclusive. So my delusion’s aside I’m tearing through the catalog when I come across a song that has long disturbed me. Yet I sat there and played along and felt like I allowed a crime to happen.

The song is “Hello, Goodbye” and to me it sounds like an endorsement of stalking. That song reads like a setup for rape. I know this shocks many of you. That was before the lads were into drugs, back when they still wore suits for f*ck sake. But don’t let the cheerful backbeat fool you. That is a dark ass song. COME ON! You say stop I say go go go! Oh No! You say goodbye, I say Hello? I don’t know why you say goodbye I say Hello. Is it just my imagination or can you hear those words coming out of some psycho’s mouth before they rape you, kill you and eat your body so that you can always be with them? Which makes me wonder, when cannibals poop is it a small funeral? Stay focused Lana. Maybe I’ve been forced to watch too much Battered Women TV (Lifetime) but that is all I can hear with that song.

And it doesn’t end just with the Beatles foray into the darker side of love. I see it all around. Songs that people jam or have jammed to not thinking of the darker message lurking beneath the pop beat. LL Cool J’s “Hey Lover” was huge when I was in school. The song is clearly about a man stalking a woman for a long time. It begins “I’ve been watching you from afar for as long as I can remember….This is more than a crush.” No kidding, it’s a felony! He knows where she goes and when she’s alone. He knows how much money her boyfriend gives her. He knows the boyfriend’s habits and vices. All the while keeping his “feelings inside, keep my dreams alive until the right time.” When is the “Right Time”? I’d like to think it is when she is broken up from her boyfriend but I have a feeling it has to do with a van a duct tape.

Not everything has a violent undertone though. No Doubt’s “Underneath it all” has a very strong message to settle. To me it sounds like she is trying to convince herself that in the end it will be worth it. Even if at times you are pretty unhappy. Even if at times it is “Really bad” at least he sees her. That is the mentality of a mentally abused person. If you can measure “really bad” as a constant time frame in your relationship then there is a problem even if you guess that it’s not that bad. That song makes me sad.

Other songs have power exchange implications. Again to the Beatles “It won’t be long”. If I were to make a musical about the journey of a submissive towards slavery then the scene just before the submissive signs their contract or accepts their collar I would put that song.

While other songs have a more optimistic message. I just love “Sexy Back”. It’s a beautiful declaration of the love that Justin Timberlake and Timberland share. They threw caution to the wind and told the world about their relationship, come what may! They unapologetically declared that what they share is sexy! I love it! Of course they fell victim to the pop culture machine. They produced a video dripping with women and even changed the lyrics while performing from “see the shackles baby I’m your slave. I’ll let you whip me if I misbehave” to “see these shackles baby you’re my slave. I’m going to whip you if you misbehave”. So sad. However their anthem of love and lust lives on and I take solace in that.

Then again this all might just be through the lens that I see the world.