Jailbait: Don’t Stand So Close To Me

The Police: Don‘t Stand So Close To Me

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Like Susan, I was taken aback when I saw our theme for this week. How did we get here so soon after Domestic Violence week? But, I didn’t have to deal with it right away. I had work to do for my own blog, that occupied most of the start of this week. And then Susan’s post appeared. So I needed more time to figure out how I wanted to deal with the Jailbait problem.

For me, it was not clear cut. Yes, many jailbait songs objectify young women. And, as my daughter just started high school this year, I can condone that less than ever. And yet, I do have a fondness for some of those songs. I can remember my high school days, and I know that my hormones gave me just that point of view for quite some time. I’m not proud of it, but I am honest about it. And that became a key for me.

Don’t Stand So Close To Me is a perfect example. Sting gives the listener both points of view, and both teacher and student find themselves in the throes of lust. It is obvious to all around them, and becomes the subject of rumors and accusations. And yet, they never do anything about it. The both know they should not, and somehow they resist. But that does not help their reputations.

I like the fact that Sting is honest about his characters’ feelings. They both recognize what they are feeling; perhaps they even discuss it during that rainy-day car ride. And perhaps they agree not to let it go any further. But the feeling is powerful, and it scares them. When Sting sings “...he starts to shake and cough, just like the old man in that book by Nabakov”, his character is feeling fear at the power of his own emotions.

One final thought. Many years ago, I read an interview with V C Andrews. Andrews was the author of Flowers In The Attic, which was the beginning of a series of books in which adults in positions of responsibility did horrifying things to the children in their care. Andrews was asked, in light of this, what kind of mother she was. She replied that she thought she was an excellent mother, because whenever she had the urge to do anything to her children, instead she wrote a book. So maybe, in listening to a jailbait song, we can vicariously work through our feelings of lust, so that we never act on these feelings in inappropriate ways.