Friday, March 15, 2013

45RPM: (Everything I do) I do it for you. Bryan Adams

Welcome to a new feature.  Here I will feature a song from my past and the specific memory or person I associate with it.  My goal is to be descriptive and brief, summing things up in one, and only one, paragraph. My goal also might be to torture you with songs from my past.  We shall see.

I hate this song for a variety of reasons: it was overplayed, it's schmaltzy, the title begins with a parenthetical statement, it's an example of Bryan Adams at the end of his fame, not the lean, hungry rocker he was in the 80s.  But I didn't always hate this song.  When it first came out, I liked it for its subservient, romantic lyrics and I think the piano chords at the beginning suckered me in.  But I spent too much time with it--there was no escaping it for a good six months, both on MTV and the radio--and by the time they finally stopped playing it I absolutely loathed it.  I associate it with my first boyfriend, probably because it was the love song for the movie Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, that lackluster Kevin Costner effort I loved because I was sixteen and didn't know any better.  We must have seen it together on a date .  But it occurs to me now that my trajectory with the song mirrors our relationship trajectory:  I liked him, there was infatuation, too much time together, and when it was all over I hated him.

7 comments:

  1. Of course I love this song. I however, do not associate what you see as "subservient, romantic lyrics" with this song. I think because it is only sung after the movie is over, that I associate Everything I Do, I Do It For You not with love of a person but as love for an ideal. Robin risked his life, not for the love of a woman, but for the justice for all. MOM

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  2. As a fellow 2/10-er, I must agree. This song certainly takes me back to more pining days of yore. Ah chivalry! And SNAPE, SNAPE, SVERUS SNAPE!

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  3. Wait. Are you telling me that Alan Rickman is in that movie? A quick check to IMDB tells me he played the sheriff! Perhaps if I ever get around to watching all the Alan Rickman movies, I will "get" to see this again. But perhaps not.

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  4. The nasty evil sheriff we are all to hate. And I did!

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  5. Oh, Alan Rickman was SO sexy in that movie! "Locksley, I'm going to cut your heart out with a spoon!" My BFF and I loved the movie. We used to quote it to each other all the time. I still remember many of those quotes. I saw the movie again a few years ago. While I recognize that it's not good, I still love it in that nostalgic sort of way.

    I don't remember if I liked the song at the time. Even at that age, I was more into punk and heavy metal. But I sure hate it now, and some of that hate has bled over onto Bryan Adams songs in general.

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  6. Now the blurker has something to say. ( Sorry that I have blurked for so long. Will do better I promise ) I love this song and might just have the type that wished to hear it "one more time" Not so with Mandy or Cococabana by Barry Manilow. Back in the day I could change that station in two notes.....or with the first background sound. I saw that he is coming to Boise soon and had that memory. Thanks for the memories. KMS

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  7. It's a Kathy S. comment! So exciting. We sang Copacabana at the Community Sing Along with Pink Martini. It is a great sing along song. But I was glad we sang it early on, because man, does that song get stuck in my head.

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