Mittwoch, 28. September 2011

The Needy Girl I: Soulmate

What a beautiful, sad melody! What deep, sincere longing in the voice! And the lyrics totally capture the feelings of a lonely woman wondering if there is somebody out there for her, if, apparently, everyone else found her/his soulmate (I guess; I'm only a man, but I can emphasize, I really can). Well, up to a point.

First of all, looking at the lyrics in text, one finds out that the singer is not really *that* lonely - By the last verse, after building up sufficient sympathy from all listeners except me, she tells us that she's going through good, if transitory relationships. Now, I can understand someone having only skin deep romantic relationships looking for something better, something more meaningful, but I really do have problems with presenting oneself as such a poor wittle unwuvved person when most of your relationships are, by your own account, actually pretty good.

You might be familiar with the feminist critique of Nice Guys (TM), you know, the men who keep on complaining how they are unable to get laid or have a romantic relationship of any kind with a woman? I understand people rolling their eyes at these men, but what we get here is this attitude taken up to eleven (thank you, Nigel Tufnel) - complaining about how even your good relationships aren't what you're really looking for is infinitely more obnoxious than complaining about not being able to get a relationship, never mind a good or even permanent one. Dear singer, when it comes to complaining about relationships, *check your goddamn privilege* of taking good relationships for granted!

And the funny thing is, that point wasn't actually what made me hate this song. I really just found out what she sang in that last verse. No, waht bugged me in the first place was the chorus, where she asks "Who doesn't long for someone to hold," (answer being: Probably everyone who doesn't already have such a person) "who knows how to love you without being told?" She goes on that "sometimes she wonders why she's still alone" - and it is at this point, where I want to grab her by the shoulders, shake her and yell at her that she's alone because she has wildly unrealistic notions about how a good relationship works. (Then I'd pause, take a deep breath and shake her again, telling her that she is hardly "alone" when she has no problems getting good if transitory relationships.)

You know, talking about how you want to be loved *is* necessary in a relationship; true love does not mean that your partner can read your mind without you telling him anything. Love, humans, sex and relationships don't work that way, they all vitally depend on communication!

So maybe, dear singer, the next time you're in a good relationship, try talking to the person you're with before it ends. It might take away the awesome feeling when you feel that you and your partner understand each other wordlessly, but it will make the relationship last-able.

Or date Ronan Keating, who is into this "love doesn't need words"-shit, too.

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