Making those eyes at me...

I was making myself a coffee just a moment ago, and of course the dog observed my every move. Now, what an excellent opening line that might provide to my first great novel, I might even start all my future works with a similar curtain-opener and see how it inspires the emergent prose. In this case, the dog is incidental, just a scene-setting device. She is a nervous mix of separation anxiety, and permanent hunger, so it follows that she is never far from my side when we are alone in the house, especially when I go near the kitchen.

I found myself looking down at the dog, and singing an old song that just popped into my head, To get potential copyright issues out of the way, I will quickly say that it is a very old song, written in 1916 by McCarthy, Johnson and Monaco but not made into the version in my head until 1959 by Emile Ford and the Checkmates. It may also be that I was hearing an echo of the 1987 version by 'Shakin' Stevens'. Phew.!!

The song starts with 'What do you wanna make those eyes at me for'. Which I sang out loud, And then I paused, because I had reached the next line,

'if you don't mean what they say.' My dog's eyes are the most honest in the universe, so clearly the sentiment didn't apply there. But I continued in my head. Past the 'Sad', and the 'Glad', to those eyes making the narrator 'want a lot of things' that he 'never had'.

Clearly these words are meant to form an overture by a man to a girl or woman. Whom he then accuses of 'fooling around with me now' and adds, in frustration perhaps. 'you lead.me on and then you run away'. But hey, he's a big tough guy who can take the knock-backs.
'That's alright'. Ah, but can he take no for an answer? His tone has become sardonic.
'I'll get you alone tonight' he threatens. Then, with menace,'And baby, you'll find you're messing with dynamite.'

It occurred to me then if he might not have the solution to his problem right there. Why there were a lot of things that he wanted but 'never had'. I mean his approach seemed all wrong for me, raised as I was in a post-feminist world with 5 sisters to put me straight and 2 daughters to keep me there. I sincerely hope the girl in question avoided him in the future, or at least until he gained a few manners. Or perhaps he thought he knew his women and reckoned the threat of forced sex might lower her defenses a notch. With just a whiff of the abuser's self-delusion that the victim is actually bringing her fate onto herself.

I wondered what dysfunction in the mother-son paradigm had gifted him such a misogynistic cynicism.

That's just my interpretation of course and I sincerely apologise if this has ruined the song for you. It is 'just a song'. Still, I hope the guy managed to straighten himself out before he found himself in serious trouble.

The dog? She got a late-night biscuit. It has just gone midnight here, and the coffee is just right for drinking now. Good night!!