Monday, January 18, 2016

The Misunderstanding's Between Him And Reality

I was listening to "Misunderstanding" by Genesis a couple of weeks ago, which isn't unusual in itself, but I started thinking about the lyrics, and I'm wondering if we're sure the guy in the song is actually in a relationship.

Ostensibly it's about this guy who doesn't know it's over between him and his partner, because (take your pick) said partner won't come right out and say it, or because he's too dense to take the hint. So he waits in the rain for hours, but she never shows up. But then there's the whole section that ends with him seeing some guy "just leaving" her place. He's been looking for her, but started in the places 'they always go', before trying to call her at home, and only after all that's failed, does he actually go to her home. This strikes me as an ass-backwards way to go about finding someone you are allegedly in a relationship with. I could see, depending on the time of day and their schedule, visiting where they work first. But not just wandering through various bars and parks hoping to run into them.

It makes me think this relationship is all in this guy's head, and he's actually some creepy stalker. She should probably have called the cops on him by now, but has been opting to avoid him, not answer his calls, change up her schedule, stuff like that. Which isn't healthy for her, or for him, since he needs to deal with the truth, but some people are too nice for their own good.

2 comments:

SallyP said...

IS... never considered that before!

CalvinPitt said...

Me either, but to be fair, my mental picture of Phil Collins is the weird Muppet version of him from the "Land of COnfusion" music video, and that guy is someone I could easily see being a terrifying stalker guy.