Lyrics - the Good, the Bad, and the Inane
(part II)

"She's got everything delightful/she's got everything I need/takes the wheel when I'm seeing double/pays my ticket when I speed" (Grateful Dead, "Sugar Magnolia")  Well, they're obviously describing the perfect mate here, eh? She's "delightful," she meets his needs, she helps him out when he screws up, bails him out even. Doesn't say "I told you not to drink so much. Now what are we going to do? I'm going to have to drive, aren't I. If you get in trouble, you're on your own, buddy." That's all anyone wants, right?

"Before I have to hit him/hope he's got the sense to run" (Grateful Dead, "Alabama Getaway")  (Oh damn, must not have hit "shuffle mode" ☻ --  I told you I was just going to start writing!)  Kind of a lightweight song from Jerry & the boys (I use that term really, really loosely at this point in time!). But I can definitely relate. It's mostly a male thing - remember "Are you gonna let him get away with that?" from the "Stupid Things" piece? Basically, the male fraternity values throwing a punch much more highly than walking away from a fight. "Backing down" is viewed as cowardice, and damn little is viewed with more contempt than cowardice (maybe treason, I'm not sure, I'll have to look it up in the male rule book. What, you didn't know we had those? They give 'em out when you are born). Women are accomplices here as well; while they go on talk shows and bemoan the dearth of "sensitive, caring men," they also start real young teaching men that they will be leaving the party with the guys from the football team, not the debate team.  Trust me, it isn't easy to make the decision to not settle something with your fists. Ages-old instinct creeps up in you and makes you want to pummel your adversary. The trick is, to grow up and control it, eh? Then go home, get on the computer, and ruin their credit rating. ☻

OK, let's try again: go into shuffle mode (√). Excellent.

"Mr. cab driver, won't stop to let me in/Mr. cab driver, don't like my kind of skin/Mr. cab driver, you're never gonna win/...../Mr. cab driver, pass me up with eyes of fire/Mr. cab driver, thinks we all one-sixty-fivers/Mr. cab driver, f**k you, I'm a survivor"  (Lenny Kravitz, "Mr. Cab Driver")  First a comment: Lenny is the funkiest hard-rock african-american-jew I've ever seen. He's got outrageous down to an art form, and is a true celebrity. Yet what he sings about in this song transcends his celebrity status: solely because of the color of his skin, he can't get a cab in NYC. This is a phenomenon of which most Caucasians are blithely unaware. Things that we take for granted are difficult to obtain by others simply because of the color of their skin. This hit home to me a number of years ago at the lunch table in work, when someone was talking about an upscale mall in Northern NJ. "Oh, I don't go there anymore," said Tony, "they wouldn't wait on us in any stores." Here was a guy who was better educated than I, dressed better and had advanced further in his career in a much shorter time than I ever would -- but he was made to feel that this upscale mall was off-limits. That just sucks. Period.

I'm  just a girl, I'd rather not be/'cause they won't let me drive late at night/I'm just a girl/guess I'm some kind of freak/'cause they all sit and stare with their eyes/Oh I'm just a girl, take a good look at me/just your typical prototype/Oh, I've had it up to here" (No Doubt, Just a Girl) Well said, Gwen. Sorry for staring. Sorry in advance, too, for next time. ;-)  Seemed like a good one to wrap up with here, we already covered what everyone wants in a partner, some of the things that suck about being a guy, some racial injustice, might as well get into sexism. This one is just a  touch lighter on the social injustice here, possibly, but what Gwen's basically complaining about is a combination of the good-old double standard ("they won't let me drive late at night") and the fact that, in the eyes of many men, women are just "fresh meat."  Hmm, probably some men all of the time, many men most of the time, and the rest of the men some of the time. "Why does anyone do anything?" (see the bit about "Things They Say Before and After Songs"). Anyway, being a more considerate guy, sorry about the staring bit, Gwen. But did you see yourself on the cover of Stuff (or was it Maxim)? Then again, to quote you from Bathwater, "Why do the good girls always like the bad boys?"

Let's see: Dazzling insight (√). Guess I'm done this one.