Tainted Love
Last week was country night on American Idol and one of the finalists, Fantasia Barrino, sang one of my favorite country songs, “You Were Always On My Mind.” It’s odd to hear a female vocalist sing this song which is, essentially, one long excuse for being an asshole. If you need a refresher, here’s a sample of the lyric: “Maybe I didn't treat you quite as good as I should. Maybe I didn't love you quite as often as I could. Little things I should've said and done, I never took the time. But you were always on my mind. You were always on my mind.” These are the sort of excuses a man offers his woman for, oh, forgetting her birthday or anniversary or coming home drunk every night. It’s a Willie Nelson composition, and when Willie sings it, in his mournful style, it has trailer park resonance. “You know I love you, but I’m just a broke down ol’ hick an’ I don’t know how to show it.”
It was interesting to hear the song refashioned to fit a woman’s perspective. Fantasia recast the song as a torch ballad, with the long black dress to match. Unlike Willie, who seems to be singing outside the trailer or in a transients welcome hotel room, Fantasia is singing in a restaurant or club, after her man has walked out on her. It’s a song for the New Woman: smart, sophisticated and too busy to notice she’s leaving her loved ones behind.
I still prefer the version of the song assayed by the Pet Shop Boys back in 1987. This track doesn’t even bother with text and instead cuts straight to subtext: the song is all about insincerity. It’s a song from a young man to his sugar daddy, not even promising to change his ways, but offering up lame excuses for his bad behavior. “What? What did I do now? Sure, I party with other boys, but I’m thinking about *you*.” Especially on Discography, where it follows “Rent,” (“I love you, you pay my rent”), the song could easily be renamed, “I Am Lying Through My Teeth.” Here, the key lyric is, “give me one more chance to keep you satisfied.” There’s no doubt the singer is paying his way with sexual favors and knows he’s one more betrayal away from ending up on the street. At the same time, he’s been here before, and trusts he can worm his way out of the situation with the proper combination of words and attitude. Cynical? Sure, but it was the 80s, after all.
Things are so different now.
It was interesting to hear the song refashioned to fit a woman’s perspective. Fantasia recast the song as a torch ballad, with the long black dress to match. Unlike Willie, who seems to be singing outside the trailer or in a transients welcome hotel room, Fantasia is singing in a restaurant or club, after her man has walked out on her. It’s a song for the New Woman: smart, sophisticated and too busy to notice she’s leaving her loved ones behind.
I still prefer the version of the song assayed by the Pet Shop Boys back in 1987. This track doesn’t even bother with text and instead cuts straight to subtext: the song is all about insincerity. It’s a song from a young man to his sugar daddy, not even promising to change his ways, but offering up lame excuses for his bad behavior. “What? What did I do now? Sure, I party with other boys, but I’m thinking about *you*.” Especially on Discography, where it follows “Rent,” (“I love you, you pay my rent”), the song could easily be renamed, “I Am Lying Through My Teeth.” Here, the key lyric is, “give me one more chance to keep you satisfied.” There’s no doubt the singer is paying his way with sexual favors and knows he’s one more betrayal away from ending up on the street. At the same time, he’s been here before, and trusts he can worm his way out of the situation with the proper combination of words and attitude. Cynical? Sure, but it was the 80s, after all.
Things are so different now.
posted by John Bliss at
9:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home