Hey There Delilah

Lately, the song Hey There Delilah has been getting a lot of airplay. It's an enjoyable folksy pop rock ballad by The Plain White T's, a jaunty tune in which the lead singer basically proclaims his love for the song's title girl and paints a picture of the future they could have together. It sounds like the sort of tune one might find on an episode of Scrubs, and given that shows history of song choices I wouldn't be surprised if this relatively new hit showed up somehow in the next season.

The thing that actually grabbed my interest though, was when a DJ gave the song's back story. There actually is a Delilah, and the song was written in a legitimate attempt to win her heart. The DJ, herself moved by the tune, couldn't believe the outcome. After all that, Delilah still rejected him! Further research revealed that he spent a year on the song. At least he got a hit single out of it.

I definitely understand the creative impulse, inspiration fueled by infatuation. If she kept the stuff, my ex-girlfriend may have a veritable gallery of paintings, charcoal drawings, sketches, and even a soft sculpture of a sun(because she was my “sunshine”). Don't worry, in hindsight that last one now makes me nauseous, too. Somewhere, I probably still have the poems she wrote for me, though whether that's sentimentality or my annoying inability to throw anything out, I couldn't say.

Creative people are inspired by their feelings, and need an outlet. A gesture is a nice thing, but at the end of the day there's no guarantee the feelings behind the gesture will be returned. Perhaps the best paintings, songs, poems, sculptures and other creations have arisen not out of mutual attraction, but unrequited love. Is it the price of creativity? I don't think so. I'm sure there are plenty of cases where a couple does get together or stay together in the wake of a gesture. Obviously, there are other factors. But I think it's a better story that this great song didn't win the girl's heart; it makes it more poignant.

I was talking to a friend the other day about how the best comedians are losers. We can laugh when we hear someone's life is actually worse than our own. Nobody likes a success story, but we can relate to someone who has problems the same as the rest of us. Trying, failing, and finding a way to keep going is the essence of humanity; the majority of us all do just that.