“Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow”… “‘Cause Baby You My Everything”

Hundreds of years ago, the “language of love” was expressed through sweet poetry hummed between strums of a guitar. As we’ve evolved, however, so have our means of expression, our standards becoming vastly limited. What happened to the puppy dog lovers we saw in the movies, gawking up at a balcony in a Romeo-esque way, professing their love? Or, when young girls would be tuned into a favorite radio station, and hear a sappy dedication? In the days of I pods and text messaging, where is the real need for the romanticized version of courting? I believe that the way we approach those we are interested in, for example leaving a love letter in a locker as compared to sending exposed photos of ourselves through our cell phones, shapes the relationship we develop.

A popular song that has been cycling through the radio stations for months opens with a line claiming: “Baby you my everything, you all I ever wanted”; special, isn’t it? However, if we keep listening, we will come across lines that are not quite so subtle, such as: “Know you got a roommate, call me when there’s no one there/Put the key under the mat and you know I’ll be over there”. It is songs like these that make me wonder how our generation could be so blind to the implications of these lyrics. Do these evolved versions of romantic poetry, with their disturbing suggestive dialogue, really make women feel unique, adored, and special? I believe that unfortunately, in this day and age, many women out there are desperately searching for some form of validation, even if it’s hidden with a smiley face through a text message or a scandalous picture e-mailed through MySpace.

The realities of a teenage relationship today have evolved drastically in the past decades. We still have the same hormones, the same vanity and the same rebellious natures; nevertheless, we are much more upfront about it. Popular websites such as FaceBook and MySpace, by-products of the modern age, have only helped aide us in this insincere form of courting. Shouldn’t we stick to our roots and try using subtlety, if only for the sake of diversity? I believe once we discard our picture messaging and invest in a flower and box of candy, we will have taken a wonderful, important step backwards.