You Might Think...
So, yeah, we all thought Every Breath You Take was so meaningful and romantic when it first came out, but now, with thought, time, and Sting talking about what he was thinking about when he wrote it, we now see it to be dark and creepy. It still is great and I am genuinely pleased when it happens to come on the radio, but, well, let's just say I cringe whenever I hear that some couple considers it to be "their song."
But it isn't as if that is the only song out there that, upon consideration, sends chills down your spine. Just off the top of my head, I can name Blondie's One Way Or Another ("I will drive past your house), Sinead O'Connor's Troy ("You should have left the lights on"), Animotion's Obsession ("Who do you want me to be to make you sleep with me"), and Screaming Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You ("Because you're mine!"). However, I am pretty sure that the people who wrote those songs knew they were singing about crazy, obsessive, dangerous, might harm the object of your affection and yourself love. And as we sang, we knew too, deep down. However, there are those love songs which both the singer and listener don't seem aware are stalker-like and it is only upon actually listening to the lyrics that one stops and says "yeah, maybe it is romantic, but if someone actually sang that to me, I might feel like my safety depended upon me getting the hell away from the singer, moving to another town, and wearing a disguise when out in public."
In my alternate life, the one where I am a cabaret singer who sings disturbing and discordant songs in the style of Julee Cruise (a woman who, through her work with David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti, has recorded her fair share of creepy songs) with a touch of Elizabeth Fraser (who may well be singing very scary lyrics in many of her songs, but who can tell?), I am singing cover versions of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up and The Cars' You Might Think. Don't let the upbeat music or shiny video production fool you, these are scary, scary songs.
Although, I'll admit that no amount of whispered intensity and piercing glances will quite replicate the scariness of finding a guy in your tube of lipstick.
P.S. Just as I was connecting all the links on this blog, the beginning strains of what I consider to be the ultimate stalker song began to play on WXRT. Because, unlike all the of the above songs, I don't have to imagine what it would be like to have people sing this song to me, I have experienced it many times. I don't care how tortured and distraught he is, the last thing a girl wants to hear from a spurned suitor is that his "aim is true."
But it isn't as if that is the only song out there that, upon consideration, sends chills down your spine. Just off the top of my head, I can name Blondie's One Way Or Another ("I will drive past your house), Sinead O'Connor's Troy ("You should have left the lights on"), Animotion's Obsession ("Who do you want me to be to make you sleep with me"), and Screaming Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You ("Because you're mine!"). However, I am pretty sure that the people who wrote those songs knew they were singing about crazy, obsessive, dangerous, might harm the object of your affection and yourself love. And as we sang, we knew too, deep down. However, there are those love songs which both the singer and listener don't seem aware are stalker-like and it is only upon actually listening to the lyrics that one stops and says "yeah, maybe it is romantic, but if someone actually sang that to me, I might feel like my safety depended upon me getting the hell away from the singer, moving to another town, and wearing a disguise when out in public."
In my alternate life, the one where I am a cabaret singer who sings disturbing and discordant songs in the style of Julee Cruise (a woman who, through her work with David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti, has recorded her fair share of creepy songs) with a touch of Elizabeth Fraser (who may well be singing very scary lyrics in many of her songs, but who can tell?), I am singing cover versions of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up and The Cars' You Might Think. Don't let the upbeat music or shiny video production fool you, these are scary, scary songs.
Although, I'll admit that no amount of whispered intensity and piercing glances will quite replicate the scariness of finding a guy in your tube of lipstick.
P.S. Just as I was connecting all the links on this blog, the beginning strains of what I consider to be the ultimate stalker song began to play on WXRT. Because, unlike all the of the above songs, I don't have to imagine what it would be like to have people sing this song to me, I have experienced it many times. I don't care how tortured and distraught he is, the last thing a girl wants to hear from a spurned suitor is that his "aim is true."
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