Jolene and Sequel

[ysabetwordsmith]

I've always liked the song "Jolene."  Here is a brilliant sequel, "You Can Have Him, Jolene."  It has a wonderful rejoinder about the hazards of cheating: "Good luck keeping him at home."

Comments

[warriorsavant]

If someone will cheat with you (lie, rob, commit treason), they'll cheat on you.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Prevailingly true. There are a few exceptions, chiefly where someone did not actually give their loyalty (e.g. oaths made under duress) but that's rare. Someone who sleeps around a relationship? Will almost always keep doing that.

Re: Yes ...

[warriorsavant]

yes to all. oaths under duress certainly don’t count. beyond personal relationships, i was also thinking that’s why double agents are never really trusted

Re: Yes ...

[(Anonymous)]

Sometimes you might get a variation where they don't see X as bad if X done to an un-person.

Of course it would be bad if done to a person, so if they think you're a person, you're safe... but your personhood might not be reliably consistent, especially if you start objecting.

And even if your personhood is ironclad, you may not want that sort of person as a close confidant.

And, yeah, don't expect cheaters to stop cheating.

Clockworklady

[(Anonymous)]

I'd like to see a version in which the singer realises she fancies the pretty redhead and begs for her to wait until she's left her man, or, for a much happier song, asks Jolene if she wants to join her and her man.

Re: Clockworklady

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I know there's a lesbian version (and separately, someone used the "leave him for her" idea as a jumping-off point for a fanfic.)

A poly version would be interesting though.

Re: Clockworklady

[ysabetwordsmith]

I've heard the gay version, but not the lesbian.

Re: Clockworklady

[(Anonymous)]

It got mentioned in the comments the last time the song got discussed hereabouts. The narrator was singing it to Jolene, as a more standard love song (as opposed to the usual tragic country love song versions): "For you could have your pick of men, / but I could never love again..."

Re: Clockworklady

[ysabetwordsmith]

LOL yes, those are good ideas too.

Reminds me of this

[ng_moonmoth]

There are several revisions extant in the filk community of "Captain Jack and the Mermaid" that, often quite hilariously, point out that Captain Jack will run into severe difficulty fulfilling his desire with said mermaid, and that if he was silly enough to believe that he would, his previous intended recognizes that she'd be better off without him.

And it also gets me thinking of the number of exes who are busy identifying January 6 insurrectionists to the authorities. Hell hath no Fury, etc.

Re: Reminds me of this

[(Anonymous)]

>>...Captain Jack will run into severe difficulty fulfilling his desire with said mermaid,...<<

Mermaid Problem, or breathing underwater, or something else?

Re: Reminds me of this

[ng_moonmoth]

Breathing underwater does get mentioned in some versions. And if, by "Mermaid Problem", you mean this truth mentioned in a different song:

"She expects you to seed her eggs after they're laid,
And you'll never get tail from her tail."

then yes, Mermaid Problem. Otherwise, something else.

Re: Reminds me of this

[(Anonymous)]

Well, there are several solutions for the recreational half of the Mermaid Problem.

As for the reproductive part... If the mermaid/human pair is not cross-fertile one could adopt kids if not precluded by social reasons. More problematic would be if they were able to reproduce but the kids are not viable or were considered not able-bodied. Either would be very stressful.

Taking care of a merbaby who can't swim well or breathe underwater would be rather difficult, as would (in most time periods) taking care of a non-walking human once they get too big to carry. Furthermore, a part-legged part-finned merperson might be considered off by both unfamiliar humans and unfamiliar merfolk.

Breathing underwater would be more of an immediate problem than fun times. Barring a magical transformation you're stuck with scuba gear or staying near the surface. (A modified houseboat would be a good compromise...)

And if the merfolk are the sort to 'invite you for dinner'...well, the only solution would be to stay far away, but if the young man is thinking with his hormones, that would be a lost cause.

Re: Reminds me of this

[ysabetwordsmith]

I did one for Tam Lin that touched on mutual nonmonogamy.

Re: Reminds me of this

[(Anonymous)]

I did one that played some of it as cultural differences.

The Unseelie-esque in-laws have a rather tenuous description of "invited for dinner" vs "invited for dinner." Plus a running joke that Unseelie Partner keeps complaining that their quest is boring because...they're being prosocial rather than hunting anything and everything edible. (...and yes, I mean everything.)

He also accidentally abducted his partner for a year and a day, instead of just partying overnight. One of Partner's friends is still upset about that to remind them about that every so often.

Oh, and the whole conflict is someone getting Exactly What They Wanted from different fae...so now they need to be rescued (by people who either are supernatural beings or are extremely used to dealing with the supernatural).

[apachefirecat]

Another friend posted the Chapel Hart sequel the other day, and I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is RARE that I share music, but I shared that one with EVERYBODY except for my friends here and then I've got it in a Recs folder to be shared the next time I do a tally post of that! They are AWESOME, and Dolly has even tweeted her approval to them!!!!