Posted in: Musicouching by Anne Lyken Garner on November 14th, 2009 | 30 Comments
Stalking is a serious crime that adversely affects men and women of all age groups. Of course I do not advocate or promote stalking in any way. For the purpose of this article, my aim is to pinpoint some disturbing song lyrics you may have sung along to, inadvertently subscribing to the lyrics between the lines.
“Every breath you take, Every move you make, Every bond you break, Every step you take
I’ll be watching you.
Every single day, Every word you say, Every game you play, Every night you stay
Ill be watching you.”
Don’t you want me – Human League
Here’s the classic stalking scenario. Two people went out together when they were both in menial jobs. The girl has moved on both in career and relationship, and the man cannot accept that she’s now in a better position than he is. He refuses to even consider that her upward mobility has nothing to do with him. Drowning in his ego, he thinks that everything good that has happened in her life is solely owed to him. And he wonders why she left him.
But don’t forget
It’s me who put you where you are now
And I can put you back down too
Don’t, don’t you want me
You know I can’t believe it
When I hear that you won’t see me
Don’t, don’t you want me
You know I don’t believe you
When you say that you don’t need me
It’s much too late to find
You think you’ve changed your mind
You’d better change it back
Or we will both be sorry
Gloria Estefan – Can’t Stay Away From You
Here’s a mistaken-love signs situation where the woman cannot accept that the man wants to go his own way. After having some fun, he seems to have said that all he now wants is friendship because he does not love her. This is hard to accept, understandably so. However, towards the end you realise that even though she hears what he’s saying and understands he doesn’t want her, she has no qualms about forcing herself on him. She dwells on the thoughts that he may, after all, ‘change his mind,’ ‘call her up,’ ‘say he loves her.’ By the end of the song, the desperation ‘look over your shoulder’ is clear. This is definitely stalk material.
Hold on to ev’ry bit of hope
That’s all I ever do
Hoping you might change your mind
And call me up to say how much you need me, too
And, though you’re leaving me no other choice
Than to turn and walk away
Look over your shoulder–I’ll be there
You can count on me to stay
‘Cause I can’t stay away from you
Blondie – One Way or Another
This should’ve been my number one, as I will never, ever sing this song again. Here is a woman so caught up in stalking and destroying her ex, she won’t allow herself the relief of getting over the break-up. She talks about driving past his house and following his bus to see who he’s hanging out with. There is also a reference to rat food in this song. I confess I don’t know what it means. I can only guess it has something to do with rat poison, but maybe not. The entire mood of the song takes your thoughts to strange and treacherous places.
One way or another, I’m gonna find ya.
I’m gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha.
One way or another, I’m gonna win ya.
I’m gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha.
One way or another, I’m gonna see ya.
I’m gonna meetcha, meetcha, meetcha, meetcha.
One day, maybe next week, I’m gonna meetcha.
I’m gonna meetcha, I’ll meetcha.
I will drive past your house, and if the lights are all down I’ll see who’s around.
Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
This is my number one because even though the other lyrics are creepy, this one seems sick, deluded and potentially very dangerous. The other people involved in the previous ‘relationships’ had some knowledge (at least) of it going on. In ‘Hello’ the girl was revered, and the man seemed sane (he knew she was unaware of his interest). There was never a relationship, and unlike, ‘Hello’ the man is not conscious of the girl’s non-interest in the matter. These are the words of a deluded psychopath who mistakes friendship for romance.
We’ve know each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching
But you’re too shy to say it
Inside we both know what’s been going on
We know the game and we’re gonna play it
And if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see
Never gonna give you up
Each person has their own list of songs which say something is not quite right. These have made my list because they are the ones which have disturbed me most of all. What songs are on your ‘creep-out’ list?
Image via Wikipedia
svishnugopal November 15th, 2009 at 12:23 am
beautiful article, and beautiful songs to support..thanks
JulyBabi1992 November 15th, 2009 at 12:44 am
i never really paid that much attention to the lyrics but now that I read this..your right….its kinda freaky!!
Karen Gross November 15th, 2009 at 1:13 am
This is one thing about the internet and being able to bring up the lyrics to all of the songs we\’ve been humming along with all these years. For example the catchy chorus \”Blinded by the Light\” turned out to have wretched lyrics. And then there is Rod Steward in \”Tonight\’s the Night\”- about an older \”gentleman\” seducing a young virgin \”You\’d be a fool to stop this time.\”
Great article, Ann. I wasn\’t sure what to expect from the title, but I was quite confident it wouldn\’t include actual tips for stalkers.
mkd1788 November 15th, 2009 at 3:35 am
thank you for suggesting good songs… nice
Lex92 November 15th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
maybe we all should pay more attention to the lyrics of songs we listen to.. Great article
Jo Oliver November 16th, 2009 at 2:08 am
Love the title. Great picks…never thought about the stalkerish lyrics in some of these songs.
R J Evans November 21st, 2009 at 7:48 am
Cool article – yes, really quite worrying!
Kate Smedley November 26th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Some interesting song choices – it’s made me think twice about all of them .. and excellent article as always.
Pithom November 27th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I don’t actually have a ‘creep out’ list… but that’s something I’ll have in mind next time I hear such a song. I’ll let you know.
Interesting article. The first two choices were what came to my mind reading your opening paragraph, they’re possibly the most famous in that regard. Had never thought of the others in the same light however.
Thanks.
Kimberly Lee November 28th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Awesome job. Thanks for sharing
devsir December 29th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Thanks for sharing such a nice info. Good Song Suggestions.
qasimdharamsy January 1st, 2010 at 7:19 am
Great article….
Alyssa M. January 2nd, 2010 at 7:58 am
terrific songs..it would be reminiscing 4 ur X.loL..
emanuele522 January 9th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I love music, this makes me excited great post.
V rank January 19th, 2010 at 10:44 am
this is unusually interesting..
Zamkey January 20th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
nice i love music..
parsi January 22nd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
beautiful article, and beautiful songs!! thx!
vaughanh February 5th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Good article, makes you see those songs in a different light now!
troyjohnyala February 5th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
This is very good,I like it so much,music is my life!
Diverseblogger February 13th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Great piece!
Cutealice March 2nd, 2010 at 8:28 am
really nice post
Lena Brown March 9th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
When I saw the first artist, I couldn’t wait to see the rest! Awesome article.
The rapper, Common, has a song called Universal Mind Control and equally as damaging are the videos that are being produced these days. (Don’t get me started on Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rhianna and a bunch of others). Sorry for that tangent…
Yes, as a mother and a responsible adult I have to know what the youngsters are listening to and to think I was rocking out to Rick Astley back in the days…
Hurleyrly March 17th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
aww this is interesting! Great subject!
MartineP March 28th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
I personally do not see the harm in it. Yes, it sounds creepy, but love is creepy. I might write things like that myself.
Why? Well, it is a way to deal with pain. As long as you are aware that reality is not what you write or sing about, there is nothing wrong. Love and obsession are quite close and because we all get some promoted picture perfect of true love, people might start getting derranged in reality.
When you really love somebody and this person does not want you, you can write a song about it, or stalk this person for real. I know what I prefer. It is perfectly understandable that you might do crazy things when you are going insane with the pain of a heart ache.
So I would not worry about those songs. Normal people will understand these are not normal reactions, but keep in mind that most lyrics are written by artists and that artists tend to be hypersensitive and that they might suffer harder from rejection and heart aches than others.
wijayantha April 20th, 2010 at 8:45 am
i love this
Holly Jayne May 30th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
what a fun and great article! I guess when people listen to music, they don’t really pay that much attention…. Excellent Job!
Daisy Peasblossom June 5th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Well done. Song lyrics are frequently a reflection of what society finds acceptable, and sometimes influences that same acceptance.
V rank June 6th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
nice collection… I find it alluring… hehehe
Spazo412 July 22nd, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Nice article. Thank you
MaxBuceo September 16th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
great job. i like it