Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Love-Pacific Northwest Style

I've long known I was jaded where love was concerned. I've never believed some other person could 'make me whole' at least not since I was about fifteen. It gave me a deep distaste for anything that was too sappy—too devoted. I don't like sappy love songs, and I don't care for romance novels.

But I had an epiphany on one of my weekend walks that pinpointed some of my quirks about love.

The song that came on the iPod was Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls. I thought maybe we should just analyze the lyrics.


Slide

Could you whisper in my ear
The things you wanna feel
I'd give you anythin'
To feel it comin'


Do you wake up on your own?
And wonder where you are
You live with all your faults

[See, here is the first hint... a very damaged person is on the receiving end of this love song.]

I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide
Yeah I'm gonna let it slide


Don't you love the life you killed
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you

[The girl has 'killed some life'--if I were guessing, I would say she had an abortion... and she hates herself for it]

Don't supposed I'll ever know
What it means to be a man
Somethin' I can't change
I'll live around it


I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide
Slide


And I'll do anythin'
You ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothin' that fall

[Now this is love... what SHE needs to feel complete again is what he's offering.]

Oh May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful

Oh May
Do you wanna get married
Or run away?

[that bolded stanza is I think my favorite]

And I'll do anythin'
You ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothin' that fall


Oh May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh May
Do you wanna get married
Or run away?


I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all


And I'll do anythin'
You ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothin' that fall


And I'll do anythin'
You ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothin' that fall


Yeah, slide between the sheet
Of all the beds you never knew
Why don't you slide into my room
Just slide into my room
Oh, we'll run away, run away, run away


I guess what struck me, is how I can really LOVE a love song (or love STORY) if the people involved are damaged enough—if the act of loving really is an act of heroism, because it has been so hurtful in the past.

And I realized why I like the Northwest grunge movement (heck, ALL those people seemed damaged—their love stories certainly were)

You get songs like Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box, or Alice in Chains' Love Song—Twisted songs about love hate relationships, unrequited love and obsession. THAT is the good stuff.

Oh, sure, it isn't what you want to build a life on (unless you're a misguided Tart with a masochistic streak) but it is infinitely more interesting—it pulls at the heartstrings because it engages us as we yell at the protagonist to think better, or have our heart torn out because it is so heart-wrenching what some people have to go through.

So there you have it. I'm jaded.

ACK!  And I forgot to remind you... Yesterday's Amazon gift certificate give away goes on all week, so just check out yesterday's blog to participate.

19 comments:

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Life is abnormal. So why shouldn't love be the same? I, myself, like Thea Gilmore's HAVE YOU EVER FALLEN IN LOVE?

Have a great new week. Roland

Anonymous said...

Oh, yes indeedy. This just confirms the fact that we were separated at birth. Or cloned from the same alien hatchery. Either way.

Seriously, anyone giving me the Nicholas Sparks true love line gets the skeptical eyebrow and eye rolling the energy of which could power Las Vegas for an hour or so at peak usage. Give me broken people holding on with nothing but their fingernails and taking one last chance to find a shred of happiness in their rapidly-dissolving world, and I'm hooked. I'll buy that.

Carolyn Abiad said...

Jaded is good...It's also known as Not Gullible.

Old Kitty said...

ERm... I'm a complete sap and believe in true love and love Barry Manilow and erm... and cried buckets during Brief Encounter and Evergreen and oh a whole lot more.. LOL!!! And I still believe in the love conquers all. And er... do have my Air Supply on a loop..!

Oh dear! Off I go to hang my head in shame! LOL!

Take care
x

Wanda said...

Life has a way of making us become jaded. Nevertheless, we were created in love and for it.

Unknown said...

I <3 Grunge! Especially Nirvana. My favorite lyric of all time has to be from Lithium, "I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends, they're in my head." As a teenager I just loved it, as an adult... I think of it in terms of being an author.

angelarene said...

I'm a fellow jaded tart too! Slide is one of my faves BUT now even more so because I've never really analyzed all the lyrics....Good stuff Hart :)

Hart Johnson said...

Ack! I answered in the middle here, and it seems to have been sucked into the netherlands! Let's try again...

Roland--Exactly! That is why I have trouble with formula romance, I think.

Simon *high fives tart twin* It's true... an awful lot in common!

Caroly-sounds like you are one of us!

Jenny--it is GOOD the world has romantics, or we jaded sorts would just wallow in our misery. Not need at all to hang head!

Wanda--glad you've resisted the jading.

Erica-HAHA! I love that line, too--the whole Nevermind CD is a favorite. My quoted one is 'monkey see, monkey do; rather be dead than cool'--very much into that non-conformity statement.

Angela- HA! Yeah, probably all of us that classify ourselves as Sluts, Tarts and Wenches are a bit jaded...

Helena said...

This is why Wuthering Heights is a classic - Heathcliff is one seriously damaged social outcast and Cathy doesn't fit in with nice folks either.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful lyrics. I think the reason I like these types of things as well (this is totally how I'm justifying, btw) is because it demonstrates the capacity and the drive to create/maintain/encourage lasting love. Sure everyone is screwed up, but we all are at different times in our lives. Love is the realization and the actualization that the hurt and the upset can and often does pass. [I don't think this is true ALL the time - there are certainly many instances where a relationship has to end - but real love doesn't cry off simply because things aren't going swimmingly.]

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm not much for the mushy, romantic love songs either (and fortunately, neither is my wife) but I enjoy those bands and songs very much, too.

Hart Johnson said...

Helena- and that is a PERFECT example of a love story I really love!

Kimberly-Yeah, you hit the biggie... it ISN'T easy, and a lot of books would lead us to believe in happy ever after, but it CONTINUES to not be easy.

Alex-yeah, best to have a compatible spouse there! (unless one of you has mastered 'yes dear', which I keep trying to install in the hubby on other matters, and it is tricky programming.)

Amber T. Smith said...

Oh man.... I'm not sure where I fit in here. I mean, I actually enjoy reading fluff, but I still wouldn't ever call myself a romantic. I'm pretty jaded too. I guess I like the fluff because I know it's pure fantasy....

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I don't mind a love song, just not sappy pop songs - or heavy metal ballads, because those are just lame!

Helen Ginger said...

I'm a sap. I like the "true love" songs, ones I can sing along with as I drive.

Cheeseboy said...

Just because I like cheese, doesn't mean I like sap. In fact, cheese and sap don't mix well at all. Sap turns the cheese all gooey and reduces it to the equivalent of spray cheese.

Arlee Bird said...

I can appreciate just about anything. I don't mind a good sappy love story, but I like time travel, zombies, and wild west outlaws too. Sad songs, glad songs, love songs, train songs-- I like them as long as they sound good. Lyrics> I usually don't pay much attention to them-- I like the instruments and I think of the voices as just other instruments. I'm basically kind of jaded, but I can very easily engage in willing suspension of disbelief.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Steel Magnolia said...

A realist, a skeptic and a nonbeliever I am oft surprised when a romantic gesture touches my heart. It is rare and fleeting. And, yes, I am jaded. Very. But I do want to believe. Really, I do. And I fall for it from time to time. It's just that I get burned because I am so damned honest. Go figure. Cheers!

Kas said...

My best friend and I often sigh and say that we shouldn't be this cynical, or this jaded, this young. Haha. I absolutely LOVE this song, and I got to see it live this summer. (Though of course, the real reason for that was their other song, Iris.) Anyway, I like the messed up kind of relationships, too.. if you didn't already know that based on the ones I write. :)

Isn't it interesting what you find when you really look at what songs/artists are actually saying?