Don't Mean Nothing

I have what you call an eclectic musical taste.  Generally, if it has a good beat, is catchy, and the lyrics could reasonably pass for poetry, I'll at least listen.  There are songs that have personal meaning for me, songs from my childhood, all that.  I'm also a sucker for a good bass line, not that there's anything wrong with that.   My smartphone has all sorts of random music on it.  Music that drives my husband batty, but he only has to listen to it when I drive the car, so I don't know what he's complaining about.  Occasionally, I'll have one of "his" tunes on the rotation, just to freak him out. 

I pushed the 'shuffle' feature, and Don't Mean Nothing, by Richard Marx went to the top of the list.  Most people remember Richard Marx because of a)his completely 80s hairdo, and b)he had a few ballads that were popular for the teenaged girls.  However, this song got to me, probably because of where I was emotionally. 

I took relationships way too seriously.  If a guy told me I was the only girl for him, I believed him.  He said it, that meant it was true.  Except it usually wasn't.  Then I was devastated when the guy did what young people tend to do--moved on to the next "only" girl.  It wasn't that I expected to get married to that guy, or any guy at the time.  It was just that I expected people to say what they mean and mean what they said.  For someone who had spent most of her life not trusting people very much, someone who had been 'abandoned' by people(because we moved away),  suddenly I had gone wayyyyyy over Trust Hill.  Downright gullible.  I was seriously confused about all of that.  It was weird, and obviously there was something clearly wrong with me.

And then Richard Marx set me straight:

Take a good look around and you'll find, 
People trying to mess with your mind...


The video, with that cute dancer from Dirty Dancing, was played often at the time, back when MTV actually played music, and as the lyrics sank in, my spirits lifted.  These games that people play don't mean nothing at all.  These days, when I find myself taking things more seriously than I should, I play this song, and it helps me get back some balance. 


What's on your shuffle?




3.) Pick up your Ipod or phone or whatever stores your music and press shuffle…what comes up first? Tell us about that song choice.