We’ve been together seven years now. He’s great, but that’s all I can say. You know, [it’s like] the Sippie Wallace song that goes, “Don’t advertise your man.” [Bonnie Raitt interview with Roger Friedman for Parade Magazine, Bonnie Raitt on Taking Control, Staying Sober, and Being Kissed by an Angel April 8, 2012]
[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]There’s nothing quite like social media to fuel the rumor mill. All it takes is one tweet or one meme from one person and, like wildfire, the statement takes off around the world on the assumption that it’s true, without anyone actually bothering to check that it is. As a result, we’re told celebrities are dead that aren’t, people said things they didn’t, and hook-ups and break-ups that never happened. We are so eager to find out every last detail, and to be the first to know it, that the truth just sits quietly on the sidelines waiting for someone to notice it.
This Bonnie Raitt song was written before Twitter or Facebook or even the Internet were ever on the scene, but it still captures that bad habit that has likely been around as long as humans started assembling into tribes. There’s even a commandment against gossiping: “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” My late father complained that was the most frequently violated commandment within the church, and even from behind the pulpit. The song’s attitude of defiance reflects how much we’ve come to accept the fact that people are going to talk no matter what we do. No matter how straight-laced and careful one is, there’s always someone else who’s jealous, or perhaps downright mean, or thinks they can somehow improve their own social standing by gossiping about others.
The song was playing in my mind the entire time we were shooting this set. The girls are not actually romantically connected at all, but what if they were? Would you be shocked? Supportive? Disgusted? Happy for them? A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that 61 percent of Americans would support a gay person running for President and 58 percent are hoping the Supreme Court rules in favor of equal marriage rights. The very concept that one girl might love another isn’t nearly as provocative or surprising as it was even five years ago. Still when a couple kisses in public, or demonstrates any sign of affection, it gets our attention and the rumor mill starts doing its dirty work.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Written by Canadian singer-songwriter Shirley Eickhard, the song is actually as much as about shy love as it is gossip. Person A likes Person B, Person B likes Person A, but neither one quite knows how to tell the other. By the second verse, the singer realizes there’s no denying what the rumors have been alleging all this time.
I feel so foolish, I never noticed
You act so nervous, could you be fallin’ for me?
It took the rumor to make me wonder,
Now I’m convinced that I’m goin’ under.
Thinkin’ ’bout you every day,
dreamin’ ’bout you every night.
I’m hopin’ that you feel the same way,
Now that we know it, let’s really show it darlin’.
As we approach the weekend, perhaps this is a good time to let that carefree, rumors-be-damned attitude take over. Certainly, if you love someone, or even think you might have feelings for them, there’s no good reason to not say something. People are going to talk either way, so why not just go ahead and give them something to talk about?
And make it good and steamy while you’re at it.
Something To Talk About
Something To Talk About, a song by Bonnie Raitt on Spotify
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