Riddles and Relationships

You know that song by Don McLean American Pie?

Bye bye miss American Pie, drove my chevy to the levy and the levy was dry, them good ole boys were drinkin whiskey and wine

You know that one! The one we all HATE when someone karaoke’s, cause it’s like 8+ minutes.(WE want OUR turn buddy!)

Bye bye miss American Pie, drove my chevy to the levy and the levy was dry.

You know it.

Well, Don also croons and is ALL about “the day the music dies” and then goes into riddles enticing us figure out WHO and WHAT group he is crooning about. It tortures the person that revels in trivia, and tantalizes the person that MUST find the truth. We just gotta figure it out. Cause once I learn the hidden messages Mr. McLean is sending us, I have the world conquered. My friends will be so jealous! My sister will hold her fist high, in honor of my resolve. I may get a certificate! Is there a prize in this? Or will I hold the KEY to...the key...the golden key...to a song.

Well, we treat relationships similar to the way we react to the American Pie song. Most of us. Ok, maybe just me, but I am not picking on me.

We start out in a relationship and everything is bliss and glory. We LIKE the tune we learn the lyrics. We hum the sweet melody in our head day and night. Over and over. Oh yeah - I know this song. It’s sweet.

Shhhh the chorus! La da da da la da

Ahhhh so lovely.

At some point, and I can’t pin point when the ball drops, we start dissecting the relationship. Pick, pick, picking it apart. There MUST be hidden meaning and we have to get to the bottom of it. All the sudden we think EVERYTHING is symbolic or has a message beneath the surface. We tend to turn it into a negative thing. We are diggers by nature.

EXAMPLE:
What did he mean when he said “That color doesn’t look good on you?”
Does he not like the color or does he just think I am not attractive?
NO! He just thinks the color doesn’t look good on you, idiot. He didn’t say “You make me want to puke in that color take it off I am getting warm spit!”
You should KNOW he would take you out in ANY color and still wants to haul your ashes!

He just pulled up outside and didn’t come in to get me. Am I not worth 20 steps?
YOU ARE! He was OBVIOUSLY listening to the end of a song you guys heard one night and it brought back memories. Maybe he was on the phone with YOUR Mom wishing her a happy day.
And maybe it just meant you should be READY and get your ass outside and stop analyzing.

See where I am going with this?

EXPLANATION:
There is NO hidden meaning like the goddamn song! It’s your “relationship“. And seriously, have half a mind to call ole Don McLean and ask, “Why the hell didn’t you just write the song without the riddles”?

But I already know the answer.

You wanna KNOW why he didn’t write it without the riddles?

He didn’t write the song without the riddles because WE most likely would NOT have been intrigued by it. Loved it so much. Wanted to learn it. Sing it. Play it. It would be black and white with NO rainbow factor. Nothing to WONDER about. Bite your lip about. Raise your eyebrow about.

JUST because we know, and have learned our loved ones “song and lyrics” we shouldn’t look for the negative stuff. Don’t dissect it when you KNOW the chorus. We can all sing the chorus cause it’s familiar to us. We know it! On a bad day, on a good day - it remains the chorus. It makes us turn up the radio and smile. The rest of the riff will be shared over time……….the rainbow factor.

When he is across the room and in a heavy conversation and winks at me, he is thinking about me(and likely my boobs)

When he runs back in the house because he “forgot” something and gives me one more hug, we KNOW he really just wanted the extra hug.

When he hits SNOOZE it’s not because he is tired. He just want 7 more minutes wrapped in my arms.

The moral is...we can search and FIND hidden negative meaning in JUST about anything if we waste our lifeblood picking it all apart. But why waste all that time? The rainbow factor is a pretty cool thing. It’s a song, it’s a rainbow, it’s a person. YOUR person.

And ole Don was wrong anyway. The music NEVER did die ahole! What about the 80‘s hair bands!

hum the tunes,
like the lyrics,
sing the sweet chorus
in my head day and night.

Over and over.
That’s the rainbow factor.
Appreciate it.

(this is my “in case Don McLean reads this” disclaimer: Don, Thank you for sharing your talent with all of us. I personally have enjoyed your song and certainly KNOW the lyrics. I must also add I have been tormented by it and have spent useless time researching the hidden meaning in your songpoem, when I could have been falling in love and picking apart my OWN relationships.)