"I can't keep touchin' you like this
If it's just temporary bliss
Just temporary bliss"
Anybody who knows how guys think will know that physical touch is a profoundly meaningful thing. One touch can set a guy off. Actually, you don't even have to touch a guy to make him want a girl. But these lyrics tell of the meaning behind that initial physical desire. Besides the yearning for physical intimacy, guys want to know that this love is real and that it is forever.
The poor guy singing this song is trapped in love with a girl who he is begging to give him some ounce of reassurance. "Tell me what's the point of doin' this every night? What you're givin' me is nothin' but a heartless lullaby." This song is heartbreaking - we want the sweet guy singing to his girl to find love and to find it forever. Why?
It's interesting that this song was written by a bunch of guys. The Cab and The Messenger (who co-wrote) collaborated to create this song from the deepest part of man's soul. While society and popular culture will make you think that guys only want one thing, have we ever stopped to wonder why that may be? Is it truly wrong for a man to want a woman and to keep wanting her day after day? Maybe there is something deeper at work here than sex and romance. Maybe people were made to be together every day, and I mean in all ways, emotionally, socially, physically, spiritually.
It's evident that woman feel the same way. Look at any romance film, read a cheesy love novel, or find a teenage girl to pour her heart out to you. Because girls express themselves more openly, they are often willing to admit that they want a love that will last forever and that will bring them fulfillment. The Indigo Girls sang, "And the closer I'm bound in love to you, the closer I am to free." Check Rihanna's song "Only Girl (In the World)":
"I want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world
Like I'm the only one that you'll ever love
Like I'm the only one who knows your heart
Only girl in the world."
Hmmmm, this is sounding an awful lot like what Paul wrote about in Ephesians: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." (Talk about I'll catch a grenade for ya). On the other hand, a little bit before the part on husbands, it says, "Wives, submit yourrselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord."Now settle down there, ladies, that doesn't mean we are slaves to our husbands or boyfriends. It means that men require respect, honor, and obedience (recognition that they are authorities and sources of strength and support). It's how they are made, and in order for any relationship to work out, these two components (wives loved, husbands respected) has to be occurring. Eminem's song "25 to Life" bluntly conveys the heart of a man (I've edited out the explatives), "Look at how I dress, baggy sweats, go to work a mess - always in a rush to get back to you. I aint heard you yet, not even once, say you appreciate me. I deserve respect." Now maybe Mr. Marshall Mathers is missing the "love your wives" part, but he is honestly expressing the male desire to be respected and seen as an authority.
This isn't a cultural thing either. In a Psychology Today article, it says that "Ratings of passion were higher in American than Chinese couples, but rating of intimacy and commitment did no differ." Ancient literature contains countless stories of gods, goddesses, heroes, warriors, vikings, and other types of individuals who declare war, fight, steal, pillage, and kill all because of a love wronged. I don't know about you, but to me it's looks like we're missing something here, folks.
