![if you don if you don](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BueQdiCREZY/maxresdefault.jpg)
There’s no melody in the world that can overcome such hate, and….Īnd…wow, it is, uh…it is catchy, but there’s the whole thing with the rage…and the misogyny, and, uh…I’m growing weak…. And why are you trying to win us over with this catchy melody after you’ve basically threatened her life for the entire song? It’s not going to work. What I’m trying to tell you is that no, she doesn’t want you, man! She pretty clearly doesn’t, and I think deep down you know that. That either means there’s a restraining order in place, or one is coming. Oh man, this guy doesn’t even speak to her directly anymore! He has to hear her answers through an intermediary because he’s freaked her out so much. You know I can’t believe it when I hear that you won’t see me
![if you don if you don](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rIyK40bXYoQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
Wait, what?! If she’s already successful, and it was so easy for her, how could he take it away from her? His bitter tone seems to indicate that she’s flown beyond him in terms of fame, so this can only mean he’s threatening her, right? Perhaps…with violence? (Or pictures of the times they had sex, because pretty clearly that would inspire a strong, “Oh God, you had sex with that guy?” reaction from the general public.) Personally, I can’t count the number of break-ups I’ve avoided by shouting things like, “you’re nothing without me! NOTHING!” If he’s attempting to win her back, he’s definitely going about it the right way. “But don’t forget it’s me who put you where you are now”Ĭondescension and bitterness. Yay, she succeeded! This makes me wonder, though-who is this guy? A talent agent of some kind, right? And now she’s an actress, or a singer? And the guy is clearly John Hinckley Jr., who tried to impress Jodie Foster by shooting Ronald Reagan?
![if you don if you don](https://www.jah-lyrics.com/artwork/albums/1157.jpg)
“Now five years later on you’ve got the world at your feet (To be fair, men who go to cocktail bars to ogle the waitresses are definitely lesser in the eyes of God and Man.) (But wait, why was the narrator in the cocktail bar in the first place? To pick up waitresses by promising to make them famous? New layers of creepy! New layers of creepy!) He’s saying she was nothing before she met him, basically just a sex object, until he came along with his big savior complex and rescued her from the lesser men that make up the cocktail bar landscape. Five lines in, and he’s already a confirmed dick. Is the narrator trying to tell us that she was good looking but not much else? Is he asking us to make a value judgment? Is he trying to shame her with memories of her past? Nahhh, I’m probably overreacting… I’m getting the chills just thinking about it. Because do I detect a whiff of sexism here? That’s kind of a stereotypically demeaning place to work, right? You imagine really short skirts and the awful kind of male clientele who call the waitresses “sugar” and always find excuses to touch them as they order. Unless, that is, you know what’s coming next. “You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar So let’s get to it! Lyrics in bold, my comments after.
![if you don if you don](https://rossportsolidaritycamp.org/img/you-don-t-know-song-lyrics.png)
I want to revel in the horror without preconceptions before I Google the song meaning. One last important note: I’m purposefully not reading any backstory until I’m finished. When we’re done, I’ll give it an official rating on the Horrifying Scale and we’ll all assume the fetal position. If nothing else, this will help me pass on my disturbed feeling to you, the reader. As such, it MUST undergo a thorough, line-by-line analysis. That changed on my drive to the grocery store, when I overcome my usual distraction and let the rest of the song sink in.Īnd you know what? It gets real crazy, gang! It’s not innocent or melancholy at all it’s vicious and angry! It turned my entire world upside down, and I’m worried that it’s going to ruin a fun, wistful pop song forever. There was a point in everyone’s childhood, back before we built up our defense mechanisms, when we met rejection with that very innocent expression of hurt: Don’t you want me? It’s a naked declaration of unrequited love, and it’s superb.įor whatever reason, though, I’d never really listened to the words beyond the chorus. It’s a known fact that 56 percent of all men choose “Don’t You Want Me” as their main karaoke tune, and it’s not just for the awesome chorus. Super-catchy, super-sad, with a plaintive dude pining for lost love. I tend to reserve it for short drives, and it was on a recent jaunt to the grocery store that I found myself jamming out to “Don’t You Want Me” by the Human League. And since most radio is terrible, and my 1992 iPod nano battery dies when exposed to oxygen, 98.7 is my go-to for the occasional fun ‘80s hit and at least one song by Heart every 30 minutes. That’s not strictly true, or even remotely true, but it is the station’s slogan. In Durham, North Carolina, 98.7 FM plays everything.