C is for ... Beautiful?

From time to time over the years, I have taken great pleasure in listening to a particular song on the radio.  Sung by a group called Beautiful South, I believe it is called ‘Don’t marry her’.  The song is a sad tale of unrequited love.  The singer sees the object of her affections well on the path to marrying someone with whom, she is sure, he will quickly find happiness turning into boredom and frustration.

As I listened to it again recently, I realised, in three alliterative words, why I like this song.  It’s charming. A well-defined melody is matched by clear diction and smooth tonal qualities.  It’s catchy.  It took me ages to learn the words of the chorus, and I still have to concentrate really hard if I want to sing along with the record.  And it’s that chorus which provides my third ‘C-word’: “The Sunday sun shines down on San Francisco bay / And you realise you can’t make it anyway. / You have to clean the car, take the kiddies to the park. / Don’t marry her – have me!” 

The words provide a clear-cut message, spelling out the ‘plot’ of the ballad.  This other woman will quickly force the young man into a strict routine, affording him no freedom to enjoy life as we presume he does at present.  But this clear-cut message has a sting in the tail, as the singer contrasts ‘marry’ – presumably a permanent state, and possibly a blessed one – with ‘have’ – a régime of taking the pleasures of the present with no thought for the long-term.

On that occasion, two pieces of Scripture came to mind as I meditated on those words, and I invite you to look them up at your leisure and see if you agree about their relevance.  The first is Proverbs 5:3-12.  There is a definite tendency in twenty-first century, ‘post-modern’ life, whether in the specific matter of marriage or in other ways too, to look after the present, without a care for tomorrow.  It seems appropriate at harvest time to comment about sowing and reaping, and the obvious relation between them with regard to our lifestyles.  If we pay no attention to the longer term, to preparing ourselves for the future by following disciplines that we learn are not only wise but God-given, then we have only ourselves to blame when things turn sour.

And, finally, least we should think that there is any possibility of half-measures: of offering a nod of partial adherence to the lessons we find in the Old Testament, while still going our own way most of the time, I offer the simple statement that came to me at the same time, and is to be found at Matthew 12:30.

Suffice to say that, being now older and hopefully wiser through realising the potential lesson of the words, next time I hear this song, I shall content myself with the enjoyment of the music!