What Are Words For? (7/7)

[Railyn]

I've been racking my brain all weekend. I can't seem to get off the nasty
song kick. Maybe it has something to do with my in-laws being here on
Friday, and the hatred and discontent they exude......

Anyway, this song was popular when I was in middle school. I always liked
it, but never really understood the full impact of it until I met my college
roommate. She had a great boyfriend (who introduced my husband to me) and
she just bled him dry. The girl emptied his bank account in less than a
week, then complained he didn't have any money saved away. Nothing ever
seemed to be good enough for her.

My husband told her boyfriend once, "One day, mark my words, this will be
"your song", and soon". And it was. Not surprisingly, it didn't last, and
neither did her marriage to another guy I never met because the most recent
holiday card had her old last name on it, a change of address from the home
they bought to an apartment her dad owns, and she did not include his name
inside.

I just recently got an import cd from this artist, that has a slightly
extended version of the song on it, and it just makes it even more powerful, so
I've included it here:

EVERYTHING SHE WANTS
By: Wham!
Album: Make It Big (original release) or Final (extended release here)
Author: G. Michael (I never realized he wrote his own stuff)

Somebody told me
Boy everything she wants is everything she sees
I guess I must have loved you
Because I said you were the perfect girl for me, baby

And now we're six months older
And everything you want and everything you see
Is out of reach not good enough
I don't know what the hell you want from me

Ah ha ha, ah ha ha, oh ho ho, oh ho ho
Ah ha ha, ah ha ha (Do do do) La, la la la la
Ah ha ha, ah ha ha, oh ho ho, oh ho ho
Ah ha ha, ah ha ha (Do do do) La, la la la la.......

Somebody tell me
(won't you tell me)
Why I work so hard for you
(To give you money, work to give you money)

Some people work for a living
Some people work for fun
Girl I just work for you
They told me marriage was give and take
Well you've shown me you can take
You've got some giving to do
And now you tell me that your having my baby
I'll tell you that I'm happy if you want me to
But one step further and my back will break
If my best isn't good enough
Then how can it be good enough for two

Ah ha ha, ah ha ha, oh ho ho, oh ho ho
Ah ha ha, ah ha ha (Do do do) La, la la la la
I can't work any harder than I do
Ah ha ha, ah ha ha, oh ho ho, oh ho ho
Ah ha ha, ah ha ha (Do do do) La, la la la la........

Somebody tell me
(won't you tell me)
Why I work so hard for you
(To give you money, work to give you money)

Oh why do I do the things I do
I'd tell you if I knew
My God, I don't even think that I love you

(Won't you tell me)
(To give you money, work to give you money)

How could you settle
For a boy like me
When all I could see
Was the end of the week
All the things we sign
And the things we buy
Ain't gonna keep us together
It's just a matter of time

My situation
Never changes
Walking in and out of that door
Like a stranger
For the wages
I give you all
You say you want more

And all I could see
Was the end of the week
All the things we sign
And the things we buy
Ain't gonna keep us together
Girl it's just a matter of time

My Opinion In A Nutshell: While Wham! was never much more that fun pop to
me, and not on the same scale as Bob Dylan or the like, I still find this
one to be a well written and great sounding song about the friendly
neighborhood gold digger, a person whom I can't stand in any way, shape or
form! And, whenever I hear the line about having a baby, I always wonder if
it's the truth, or that old tried and true way to keep your man with a fake
pregnancy. It worked for my roommate. Everytime he thought about going
back home to New England, she just might have been pregnant.

Favorite Line: "You've shown me you can take, you've got some giving to do".

[H2IZCOOL]

Yeah. I remember dating a girl like that. Yuk!

A key line is the first: "Somebody told me." Seems that there is always somebody who knows, telling you -- but ya never listen. Fortunately, in my case, I finally listened.

You're right, Railyn. This is pretty heavy stuff for a group like Wham!

[Railyn]

H2IZCOOL said:

Yeah. I remember dating a girl like that. Yuk!

A key line is the first: "Somebody told me." Seems that there is always somebody who knows, telling you -- but ya never listen. Fortunately, in my case, I finally listened.

You're right, Railyn. This is pretty heavy stuff for a group like Wham!

Gold diggers give us decent women a bad name. ;D Anyway, I guess love truly is blind. We kept warning a friend of ours that her boyfriend was bad news, and she married him, had kids with him, and now he's dragging her down into his pit. If you're really in love, the heavenly powers above could tell you, and you probably wouldn't listen too well.

[Dawn]

This definitely sounds like a one-sided relationship. The writer in the song knows he's being used and sounds frustrated, but he doesn't know why he's allowing it to happen. Like you said, love is blind, and unfortunately many people don't see their partners for who they really are until it's too late. I almost made this mistake once myself, but thank goodness I wised up in time.

[Railyn]

Dawn said:

This definitely sounds like a one-sided relationship. The writer in the song knows he's being used and sounds frustrated, but he doesn't know why he's allowing it to happen. Like you said, love is blind, and unfortunately many people don't see their partners for who they really are until it's too late. I almost made this mistake once myself, but thank goodness I wised up in time.

The heaviness of this song compared to Wham!'s other stuff is what made this one stand out when I first heard it, and really to this day.