Stalker Pop, Part 2: Into the ’60s
And we kick off part two of the stalker pop roundup with a classic that hit the top 10 on both the pop and R&B charts in 1964:
Just your basic romantic disappointment, right? But listen to the words: He’s been checking up on her, friends are urging him to leave her alone, he knows she has someone else but is still begging her to “stay, and let me make it up to you.” Then we have: “I’ll do anything you want me to/You loved me before, please love me again/I can’t let you go back to him.” Restraining order, anyone?
Then we have the Beatles in ’65, with a protagonist who has moved past the restraining-order stage and on to felony charges. I am a big Beatles fan, but this one outpaces several other strong contenders as the most despicable song they ever recorded.
Not gonna quote the lyrics — I’d have to quote the whole thing — but this is Lennon at his crude, too-clever-by-half worst, and it is a measure of the Beatles’ clout that they could get away with such a repellent, misogynistic sick joke of a song. Ghastly.
Stepping back to something (relatively) harmless, let us take the Association, or the 1960s’ leading producers of tunes that could be safely played, without alteration, in any elevator in America. The sound is not great on this version, alas. I almost posted a live clip, but there is just something too mind-blowingly weird about the idea that anyone ever went to see the Association in concert. From 1966:
“I wish that I could mold you into someone/Who could cherish me as much as I cherish you.” Or “I’m beginning to think that man has never found/The words that could make you want me.” He also assures the poor woman that any other guys who say they love her are lying. More obsessive than threatening, but, considering the band we’re talking about, intense stuff.
Moving back to straight-up stalking — magic stalking — we have the Who, and “I Can See for Miles.”
Some have said this is a drug song of some sort, but the lyrics don’t support it, and Pete Townshend has said himself that it is intended to be taken literally. And the theme of a guy who just has really, really good eyesight fits in with the oddball topics and novelty tunes that were such a big part of the Who’s early work.
Our hero says, “I know you’ve deceived me/But here’s a surprise/I know that you have/’Cause there’s magic in my eyes.” Surprising news indeed. He reports that he can see the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal “on clearer days” so weather is evidently a factor here (though it seems the curvature of the earth is not).
With nearly unlimited powers of vision, one might use one’s time more productively than in checking up on one’s girlfriend, but obsession is what stalker pop is all about.
Still, though this is definitely a stalker song — I mean, he’s watching her all the time — it’s not an especially sinister example. Though the protagonist says, “You gotta stand trial,” and his suspicions are apparently justified, evidently he is not considering any action more serious than dropping his cheating girl. A bit of a relief, considering.
Next up: Stalker tunes of the ’70s!
Categories: Sweet Emotion
2 Comments »
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December 20th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Once again I am surprised by what you come up with Bridey. “Hurt So Bad”, restraining order, when viewed in the light of this blog, indeed.
The Beatles, “Run For Your Life”, what a creepy song, ouch.
“Cherish”, a song I’ve always enjoyed, seems harmless enough.
Unlike the first two this one seems more a song of longing,
it seems almost worshipping to me.
Now for The Who, “I Can See For Miles”, okay, still like the song,
but it now makes me think of peeping Tom’s, yuck
One song that is somewhat controverisal that did not make your list for the 60′s is “I Will Follow Him” by Little Peggy March. In recent years I have seen it used at religious retreats as a way to get kids involved in the retreat, but if you read the words you can take it as a stalker song as well:
“I will follow Him, follow
Him wherever He may go,
There isn’t an ocean too deep,
A mountain so high, it can keep,
Keep me away”
Just my thoughts, thanks Bridey
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