No, I'm not going through some sort of emotional drama in which I'm too afraid to open my heart up to someone. And no, I'm not ranting about a lover who recently dumped me. I just wanted to briefly blog about this song because my only experience with it has been while I've been here in Korea and it really does get on my nerves (the song). lol.
I actually wanted to blog about this song because I first heard it about a year ago and I haven't heard it ever since. Not until today when I was listening to Jango at work. It came up and I remembered how much I hate this stupid song. Don't get me wrong, I think the lyrics and the music are great! And I really like the Black Keys. What I hate about this stupid song is the overall sentiment of it. It's so pathetic. Why have I waited a year after I first heard the song to rant about it? Well, I'm not entirely sure. I think it might have something to do with my upcoming birthday and the things that I know I always wanted to say but I never did. I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks and I feel like I have wasted a lot of time trying to be appropriate and polite and dignified. That may not sound right to most of you who know me because it probably seems like I usually say exactly what I want to say whenever I want to say it, but believe me, there's still a lot of filtering that goes on in my head before I let words fly out of my face.
Anyway, why do I think this song is so pathetic? Well, the way I see it, this song is about a man who feels stuck. A man who IS stuck. Stuck working and fretting over absolutely nothing. He knows there are great opportunities out there but he's too busy being afraid to actually go out and get them. He wants to find love and be with someone, he even meets a great girl who he really seems to like, but he refuses to put his fears aside and just go for it. It's all so pathetic. I've heard it before. "I've been hurt before. I don't want to get hurt again, so I'm not gonna let myself get too emotionally involved. I like you and I really feel like I could love you, but... Oh, I don't want to put myself out there, so instead I'm gonna end it."
Well, maybe I haven't heard the last part so clearly worded, but it's not too hard to tell sometimes.
It bothers me to hear that sometimes because I think it's unfair and stupid to lay on that kind of emotional baggage on someone who you have no idea if he/she is a good person or not. Listen, I've been screwed over quite a few times myself. It hasn't been fun. It hurt like a b*tch. But really, why should I shut every other guy out when he could very well be great? It's hard at first right after having your heart broken, but it gets better if you allow it to get better. If you go through your entire life with that "I'm too afraid to love you" mentality, when is it that you're supposed to find this "pair" that you wish you could be a part of? Can someone explain the rationality in that? I know this song is not about rationality, and I'm a pretty emotional person myself (seriously), but come on! Even I can put aside emotions sometimes to think rationally about a situation before I bring my emotions back in again. And sometimes the most rational thing to do is to just follow your emotions and see where it takes you.
I'm not in any way saying that we should be reckless with our hearts and place trust in whoever shows up. No, no! That's not what I'm saying. What I AM saying is that we also can't assume that every person we meet is going to be a jerk. Every person we meet is not going to fit that idea of what they're all like. "They're all the same!" No, they're not. Stop telling yourself that they are because what you end up doing then is formulating a self-fulfilling prophesy. You end up attracting that which you tell yourself you despise and never want to have anything to do with. Believe me, I've done it myself before. I'm not just talking out of my butt. I speak from experience.
