The more things change the more they stay the same: namely, men get hot for sexy women and then get puzzled, in a “duh?” sort of way, when the women don’t always respond in kind.
In 1980’s “She’s So Cold,” Mick Jagger’s high-powered rocker of sexual frustration, the message was straight-forward: how hot he was for her, and how cold she was to him.
Recall these lyrics:
I tried re-wiring her, tried re-firing her
I think her engine is permanently stalled
Duh.
Fast-forward to “Cold”– once again, a young man puzzled by an aloof partner. Performed by Maroon 5, “Cold” is ranked in the top 15 on both Top 40 and Adult Top 40 formats.
Listening to these two songs, side-by-side, is a quick tutorial of the direction that male/female give and take has taken, over the years.
The lyrics and underlying message in “Cold” are nuanced and smooth and fluid, understanding and tender, and willing to share. Not condescending or demanding.
After everything that we’ve been through
How am I so far away from you?
Featured in “Cold” is Future, THE rapper of the moment, who just made history by becoming the first artist to ever garner back-to-back #1 debuts on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart.
And, then, as now, artists want to “push the limits” of good taste and tradition: Mick hurls out a “She’s so cold, she’s so goddamn cold” which was edgy at the time; by contrast, Adam Levine causally goes full out “F” bomb.
As Boomers, we have perspective and experience, and these two songs, and their videos, are vivid examples that “times” really have changed.
A word about the video: Memory lane. Groovy. A time machine. A 70’s film version of an LSD trip.