Rude by Magic

I've been wanting to talk about this song for a while, and I'm so glad I can. Now, I'm sure you've heard of this song, but if you need a refresher or to match the song title to the song, I'll give you a moment to go look it up on youtube.

Yep...I'll just wait here.

You got it?

Know which song I'm talking about?

I absolutely despise this song. As soon as the reggae beat starts blaring through the speakers at my work, I inwardly cringe. Most of my coworkers have heard me rant a time or two about this song, so they know exactly how I feel about it. (Though I guess now it's my song whenever it comes on the radio.)Then the crooning voice of the lead singer pulses on.

The song starts out nice. There is a gentleman who wants to ask his girlfriend's father for her hand in marriage, because her father is an "old-fashioned man". So far, so good. However, it goes downhill from there.

The gentleman is rejected. The father says no! The horror! But what does the gentleman do?

He says that the father is rude and that he's going to marry his daughter anyways.

...what?

That's just the biggest middle finger to someone who you were just moments ago asking for permission to marry his child. He said no for a reason. This is his daughter, his little girl (yes, women, you will always be daddy's little girl no matter how old you are). What if he was just concerned about your future? What if he wanted to get to know you, the gentleman caller, more? What if he said no as a joke? Well, we won't ever know since you just decided to insult him and carry away his flesh and blood.

And the song gets worse!

The gentleman caller threatens to take her away, start a family with her, and let her father have nothing to do with it. Supposedly she loves him enough to let this happen. Well, to all you ladies out there, do you really want to burn the bridges between your family for a guy?

Honestly, when I heard this song, I was appalled. Is this the message we want to be spreading to our future generations? That it's okay to insult your girlfriend's father and then proceed to say that you're going to marry her anyways? Well, good sir, I'm afraid that you're rude and most definitely not human if you'll let your primal instincts get the better of you.

What he should have done was ask her father why, try to understand where he was coming from...have a civilized conversation. This situation could have ended through better means for everyone. There is always a reason behind a "no" answer.