The Stalker Song

I was reading a list of 'One Hit Wonders' for the decade and saw one of my favorites on there - You're Beautiful by James Blunt. When I first heard this song on the radio I thought, how sweet to write a song about your girlfriend telling her how beautiful you think she is. Then after I heard it a few times I realized he wrote it about a woman he passed in the subway who was "with another man" but just seeing this beautiful woman changed his life, blah, blah, blah. Okay so I felt a little disallusioned with this song. Then I saw the video that goes along with it. That was just downright distrubing! In the video while he is singing the song he is sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean. He proceeds to take most of his clothes off and in the end he jumps off the cliff. Soooo....because you realized you would never be able to have a relationship with this stranger you saw once in the subway, you are going to kill yourself? I think she dodged a bullet! So although I still like the song - I always feel a little disturbed as I am listening to it.

Then there's Hey There Delilah by the Plain White Ts - which I affectionately call 'The Stalker Song'. Again, I heard this song and thought what a sweet song to write to your girlfriend who you clearly adore. Then I read an article about how the guy wrote the song to this young woman he liked. They had met at a party or even gone on a date but she let him know that she was not interested. Now she has this song written about her that is all over the airwaves that makes it sound like they are clearly a couple. (Note to Delilah...run away...run far, far away!) So now when I hear the song I try to imagine it is really written about two people who are actually very much in love. But it still feels kind of creepy and I'll always think of it as 'The Stalker Song'.