lyrics to "to make you feel my love" - DV?

[NicknameTaken]

Listening to Rebecca singing "To Make You Feel My Love" on the X-Factor, I'm really uncomfortable with the lyrics "I'd go black and blue".

Seriously, why do you need to be black and blue to demonstrate to love to somebody? Okay, maybe if they were being menaced by a speeding bicycle, and you flung your body in front of it to protect them, but other than that, how might it happen?

Anyone else find it uncomfortably close to the rationale of an abused woman - "He only does it because he's insecure. I'll make him secure and he will stop!"

I accept I may be overthinking it.

Whitney Houston - saving all my love for you. Can't remember all the words but I think it's about a mistress (sorry for old-fashioned term!) waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting for a married man who has a family and they need him there and she is last on his list.

I couldn't be a mistress.

Sorry - that's not about DV!!!{blush}

Rick Astley - 'Never going to give you up.' - a stalker.

OK - the words are lovely after that!

What about:

Beautiful South - Dont Marry Her

Think of you with pipe and slippers
Think of her in bed
Laying there just watching telly
Think of me instead

I'll never grow so old and flabby
That could never be
Don't marry her,have me
And your love life shines like cardboard
But your work shoes are glistening
She's a PhD in "I told you so"
You've a knighthood in "I'm not listening"

She'll grab your sweaty bollocks
Then slowly raise her knee
Don't marry her,have me

And the Sunday sun shines down on San Francisco bay
And you realise you can't make it anyway
You have to wash the car
Take the kiddies to the park
Don't marry her,have me

and so on. Not DV or stalking just a very grim take on marriage from a rival who wants to steal the boyfriend. Lovely!

Good thread idea!

Yes. Or a song about a very bitter woman.

Or what about Eminem and Rhianna:

I Love the Way you Lie

Powerful warnings in there.

It's written by a man.

Now Bob Dylan has written some dodgy lyrics in his time... 'Just like a woman' for example, and I wouldn't neccesarily think he is the most feminist man in the world but it's written from a bloke's point of view so to say it's about DV towards women is wrong IMO.

Or lovely old John Lennon: "I'd rather see you dead little girl than to be with another man...You'd better run for your life if you can little girl, hide your head in the sand little girl, catch you with another man, that the end little girl".

John Lennon singing - I'd rather see you dead little girl, than see you with another man. You better run for life etc....If i see you with another man, its the end. Little girl....

Soooo creepy and apparently John did have a temper which kind of makes it more creepy.

Aaargh x-post Elephants!!

What about Take That sending out the message I cheated but get over it ?.

EVERYTHING CHANGES

Girl, come on over here, Let me hold you for a little while
And remember I'll always love you forever more, Everything changes but you

We've said goodbye, the taxi cab is waiting
Now don't you cry, just one more kiss before I have to go
Hey girl I know the situation changed
And so much is new but
Something in my life remains the same 'cos

CHORUS:
Everything changes but you
We're a thousand miles apart but you know I love you
Everything changes but you
You know that every single day I'll be thinking about you

The rumour's true, you know that there've been others
What can I do, I tell you baby they don't mean a thing
Now girl don't go and throw our love away
I'll be home soon
Back in your arms to hear you say that

REPEAT CHORUS

Though everything changes around us (baby don't you cry)
We will be the same as before forever more

John Lennon again.

I was dreaming of the past.
And my heart was beating fast,
I began to lose control,
I began to lose control,

I didn't mean to hurt you,
I'm sorry that I mad you cry,
I didn't want to hurt you,
I'm just a jealous guy,

I was feeling insecure,
You night not love me any more,

I was shivering inside,
I was shivering inside,

I was trying to catch your eyes,
Thought that you were trying to hide,
I was swallowing my pain,
I was swallowing my pain.

I also have a little problem with The Script he is basically stalking an ex through the medium of song .

Falco - Jeanny

He murders her - thats pretty bad!

Very popular on the radio here

Never understood why "Delilah" is such a popular song. He finds out his girlfriend is cheating on him so he stabs her on her doorstep.

I can't stop thinking of violent songs now - there's loads. Its actually depressing me. Do people deep down think women are so bad and there's something natural or romantic about slapping them about or murdering them?

Its just I can't imagine a world where it would be okay to have a musical genre about attacking black people or gay people or some other group that suffer prejudice. Its like woman hating is on another level This is so widespread. And okay, a lot of these songs are old but new ones come out all the time (Smack my bitch up, Eminem etc.)

I'm off to watch Greys and drink tea - feel sad...

Elephants,

Do you know, I lived my entire life without knowing that about Delilah, and you're right, it's a horrible song

Skeleton - surely the JLS one isn't literal it's the imagery of the heart stopping- as matters of love connected to the heart (bit like Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown??) No Air.
That's a song I love.

It's creating an imagery around love, emotions and longing surely? The writers take poetic licence.

Same as jealous guy isn't I took that one to be emotional hurt rather than physical hurt.

That's not to deny of course that many lyrics are mysoginist - I was always under the impresstion that Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners is about rape.

Re John Lennon just to balance out he wrote a song called 'woman is the n**ger of the world' so maybe in that a recognition of women's oppression.

Interesting that Chris Brown is a woman beater though.

Just to add, I think students are told in English Lit 101 not to find the author's voice in the characters.

RudeEnglishLady, please don't be sad! I thought it was an interesting thread, and I didn't mean to upset anybody.

RitaLynne -PMSL at your ponderings on Back to the Future!! The whole bit where his mum fancies him makes me cover my face with my hands!

Yes he has committed DV but don't think the song No Air is about that is it?

its about how when a couple feel when they are apart.

'I'd rather go blind than watch you walking away from me' is a line that upsets the fuck out of me.

Christina Aguilera - I'm Okay