Pee Shy: Little Dudes
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The strength of this blog is in the unique and varied perspectives it brings together through music. When we find out the theme each week, it is our own responsibility to interpret it the way we see fit, and different song choices show different sides to the same story. Posts like Susan's yesterday give us that perspective and allow this blog to not just be a grouping of random music, but also a place for people to express themselves.
That being said, I thought I'd offer a perspective that had yet to be touched upon this week, that of an older woman with her eyes on a younger man. These days the media can't talk about "cougars" enough, that is, the woman in her 40s who actively pursues younger men sexually or otherwise, and there's also been a lot of media attention about younger men with the hots for older women as well. In this song's case, it's mostly tongue-in-cheek, but what it does is creep you out enough to realize there's still a double standard.
Pee Shy was a Tampa, Florida based band in the late 90's. Two spoken-word poets with little musical experience are determined to start a band, and do so with a clarinet and an accordion. Their music is both artistic, and yet somewhat comical. So, despite the serious nature of the subject, the song is also sort of funny. Being a girl whose boyfriend is a good 5 years younger than her (which, over time isn't a big deal, but when you're 26 and he's just turning 21, it feels like a big difference), I understand the appeal of the younger man. As the song says, "they never try to tell you what to do", and they seem to be more in awe of the more mature woman's interest in them. I imagine the ladies in the song hanging out at an arcade or other high school haunt basking in the glow of their own influence and power to romantically intimidate the boys. Not to mention getting from them things they've not been able to get from men their own age, namely respect and admiration. So, are they taking advantage of these boys or doing anything against the law? No. But the point of the song, to me, is also that it creeps people out more to hear this than it would if it were a man singing about a girl.