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Underground > Radio & Music >

Threatening love songs...

  
 
that
13:39 / 06.06.02
This is fairly pointless... but I have been pondering lately how many love songs sound like threats. And I don't mean Nine Inch Nails or whatever, I mean teeny bopper music and frigging Sting with his stalker song. Bands and singers that are generally perceived as clean cut or innocuous. Here are a couple of examples:

'Escape', by Enrique Inglesias

(You can run, you can hide
But you can't escape my love)

Here's how it goes, you and me, up and down at this time
We'll get right, where to fight
Cause love is something you can't shake
When it breaks
All it takes is some trying

If you feel like leaving
I'm not gonna make you stay
Soon you'll be finding
You can run, you can hide
But you can't escape my love

You can run, you can hide
But you can't escape my love

So if you go
You should know
It's hard to just forget the past to pass
It was good, it was bad but it was real
And that's all you get in the end of the matter

Here's how it goes
All it takes is some trying
You can run, you can hide
But you can't escape my love

'Every Breath You Take', by Sting

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
I'll be watching you

O can't you see
You belong to me
How my poor heart aches with every step you take

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you

Since you've gone I been lost without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your face
I look around but it's you I can't replace
I keep crying baby please

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you


Just an observation, and not a new one. But, that is some odd shit, huh? Someone make this topic worthwhile, please...
 
 
Shortfatdyke
13:42 / 06.06.02
enrique needs a restraining order. defiantely!
 
 
Margin Walker
14:09 / 06.06.02
"If you don't love me, I'll kill myself" (by ???-hell, I don't even know if it's a real song, but it sounds familiar)
"I'm gonna make you love me" (see above)
"Get out of my dreams (and into my car)"--Billy Ocean
"Come See About Me"--The Supremes

more later...
 
 
Jack Fear
14:14 / 06.06.02
"If you don't love me, I'll kill myself" (by ???-hell, I don't even know if it's a real song, but it sounds familiar)

Pete Droge. Summer radio hit five, six years ago.
 
 
suds
17:16 / 06.06.02
well, of course, every breath you take by the police.

and do you remember that pop song which went:
'girl i'm gonna make you sweat
sweat till you can't sweat no more
and if you cry out
i'm going to push it push it some more'
gross and totally about rape but i forgot who it's by.
i like this thread.
 
 
that
17:42 / 06.06.02
Fuck me. Yes! 'Sweat' by Inner Circle. People, including teachers were singing along to that on a school trip to Switzerland, and I was horrified and disgusted, because I thought the same thing as you... I read the lyrics today, thought about posting them here...wondered if I was wrong though... so didn't...
 
 
that
17:47 / 06.06.02
Here's the song:

'Sweat ( A La La La La Long)'
Inner Circle

I've been watching you
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
C'mon!
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
Hey!

Standing across the room
I saw you smile
Said I want to talk to you-oo-oo
For a little while
But before I make my move
My emotions start running wild
My tongue gets tied
And that's no lie
Looking in your eyes
Looking in you big brown eyes
Ooh yeah
And I've got this to say to you
Hey!

Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out
I'm gonna push it some, more, more
Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out
I'm gonna push it
Push it, push it some more

(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
C'mon!
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)

So I said to myself
"Does she love me or not?"
But the dreads done know
That love is his to get
With a little bit of this
And a little bit of that
My lyric goes on the attack
My tongue gets tied
And that's no lie
Looking in your eyes
Looking in your big brown eyes
Ooh girl
And I've got this to say to you
Hey!

Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out
I'm gonna push it some more, more more
Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out
I'm gonna push it
Push it, push it some more

(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
Ooh yeah!
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
One more time!
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
Sing it!
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
Hey!

Woo woo woo woo wee yeah
(Eyes)
Looking in your big brown eyes
And I've got this to say to you
Hey!

Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out
I'm gonna push it some more
Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out
I'm gonna push it
Push it, push it some more

(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
Yeah!
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
Push it, push it some more
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
Alright!
(A la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long)
Push it, push it some more

It was the song that started me off thinking about threatening or just downright fucking evil love songs, all those years ago...
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
21:53 / 06.06.02
Well this is one of the things that always strikes me about the accusations of sexism and misogyny in - yes! - hip-hop: the huge amount of scary, implicit stuff like the above that exists in every genre of popular music... A lot of rap artists just make it explicit, really.

That being said, I don't think that threatening love songs are a 'bad' thing, per se - the dangerous element is often what makes them interesting, or even appealing. And there are often grey areas - is A-Ha's 'Take On Me' threatening, I wonder, or just determined?

"You're shying away - I'll be coming for your love anyway..."

I think this is symptomatic of something deep-rooted and endemic in our culture: how many films have you seen where the hero forcefully kisses the girl, who struggles at first, but then 'wilts', concedes, and kisses him back? Not at all like real life in my experience, and more than a little disturbing...
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
02:00 / 08.06.02
Sometimes it's the delivery of a song, rather than just the lyrics, that can make it creepy... ever hear the Fatima Mansions lounge lizard version of "Everything I Do I Do It For You"? It's icky, and deeply frightening.
 
 
Gibreel
04:10 / 08.06.02
Fatima Mansions - excellent cover and very disturbing.

Flyboy> Agree with you on this. Nick Cave is frequent visitor to Hotel Misogyny.

But on the other hand, the most threatening love songs I can think of are by PJ Harvey. Really, really unnerving.

Love can become obsessive and dark but does pop obsess over obsession? After all, it's much more interesting and dramatic than yer basic stable relationship.
 
 
Shortfatdyke
05:12 / 08.06.02
oh! i always thought of pj harvey as really really powerful....

point taken about the pop/rap lyric thing. pop just dresses it up better.
 
 
Shortfatdyke
05:14 / 08.06.02
oh! i always thought of pj harvey as really really powerful....

point taken about the pop/rap lyric thing. pop just dresses it up better. i was going to start on about hm here, but mostly i find the masculine od ridiculous rather than oppressive.
 
 
grant
05:42 / 08.06.02
I hear the secrets that you keep...
(ba dump, ba dump)
...when you're talking in your sleep.
 
  
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