Oddly enough, the relationship I look back on with the most fondness was also the least attractive partner I dated ( by conventional standards.) That being said, I was with her because she had an amazing personality, was open to new ideas, and what a great sense of humor!
You have made me laugh like I haven't laughed in a long time. Ps: I love this song too. I'm a DJ, and people generally love when I play it at parties. 💕
thats the gospel right there Brother, took me most of my life to realize that truth.....The Woman MUST appreciate you and feel LUCKY to have you. You will never go wrong if so.
Many years ago I was actually over Jimmy’s house with a few friends and smoked pot with him. He was a super nice guy. We were talking about the song and saying how true it was. He lived down in Rockland County NY. He was managing bands and selling pot at the time I met him. Really sorry about his passing so young. I did not know that. What he’s trying to say in the song was to stay away from the 8 through 10’s and marry the 4 through 7’s. They are the ones that had good heads on their shoulders and to stay away from the high maintenance women that were real material and selfish. The average women were raised right had good values made good mothers and were also seen as life long partners. The song really should have been titled if you want to be happy for the rest of your life marry your best friend. My parents were married for fifty years and were still in love with each other as if they had just met.
Oh my I need to go and fan myself on my fainting couch that song has given me the vapours. Oh the humanity of it all!!. 'Clutch their pearls' - love it. You make me so happy every week.
Researching people's reaction to this song somehow I discovered this channel I'm hitting that subscribe button. Plus this song randomly play today so I guess that's why I'm here
I have a similar fondness for "Good Enough for Now" by Al Yankovic. If I could find someone who has the same humour as I and does not take offense, I want both this song and that song to be played at our wedding reception. 😅
It's all Economics. A socially beautiful woman is seen as a liability to an emotional immature man. Instead these men chose not to change and go for the low hanging fruit. Do they use the relationship for opportunity to emotionally grow? Do they propagate the cycle of chauvinism on to their wife and children? Thanks for your reaction.
Youre right it is economics. A socially beautiful woman is more work, stress, and problems than she's worth. I'll take an ugly girl with a big nose or something. As long as she's not fat!
It's talking about superficial women. It's also a rip-off of a Trinidad group with the song "Ugly Woman." But for real, it's talking about superficial people and not trying to pursue a woman who is spending all of her time selling herself on her looks and has nothing else to offer. Also...this song has some GREAT punk covers lol
The grandfather of a friend wrote this, I just discovered! It's always been such a fun, silly song to me and I've loved it since childhood. The actual story is that they were Italian immigrants and he was frustrated with his wife, who was known for her beauty and fire, because she was out with girlfriends instead of home cooking. She told him, "If you wanted a wife that would stay home and cook, you should have married an ugly woman that no one wanted to see!" They laughed about it and then went on write several #1 hits!
I’m from Monterey, California and worked for the FBI but married an absolutely gorgeous girl from the Mountains of Kentucky. She was so poor she wore vanilla extract for perfume. In our younger years I’d get so mad when all the guys would look at her, speak to her and flirt. Even after 50 years my Kentucky Wildcat is still a head-turner…but she sure can cook good too.
I've heard of this song before and had a general idea of the tune and message, but didn't listen to it closely until today. My take: it's catchy, amusing, has a GREAT tune and delivery by the singers, and is 100% fun! That said, if everyone took the advice in the song, you would be stuck as a single for life...
Loved your analysis! From a male's perspective, my modern interpretation of this song is that it is all about gratitude. About loving, appreciating and cultivating what you have, instead of chasing an illusion or fantasy that was probably never meant for you in the first place. Yeah, the jealously component might have mildly sinister undertones. But, I can also see the lyrics as liberatory for woman to a small extent, in than men are encouraged to find happiness by actively relinquishing their possessive nature. What a surprisingly clever and thought provoking song this is. Makes me smile every time I hear it.
Good choice of you... I first listened to this song when I was watching ( Mermaids ) movie, and I was really surprised by the lyrics.. but, gradually, I liked it.. it is really funny, though, it is a little bit offensive. But, it stills a funny piece of work. By the way, ( Her eyes don't match ), it could mean she is suffering from a matter of eye-crossing, or something, may be ?!!. Who knows !!
Pug Mugsly honey you're almost as crazy as me, note almost, yes I've still got the edge on ya babe cause I'm an officially certified lunatic so you've still got some catching up to do, sorry about that.
You get a like for: A) not being offended to the point you can't enjoy singing along with it. B) fun facts at the end C) seeing the disconnect between ugly looks and good cooking
That certainly is an... interesting song. I think you have a point about how when viewing something from history you need to learn to shed your current-day perspective and learn to view things in context. The lyrics of this song, were they released in a modern day song, probably wouldn't fly but I also don't think they're THAT offensive. I imagine the spouse of any person singing it may feel differently though. I also think our tolerance for offensive entertainment greatly depends on our exposure to it from a young age. I don't think this is a song I could listen to because the lyrics would bug me, but there's quite a lot of stuff I know is offensive, or at the very least problematic, that I enjoyed in my youth that I still enjoy today. Especially when it comes to music. I also love songs where the meaning is something deep or dark or irreverent or just generally bad but it's played to an upbeat backing track. The fact that 99 Red Balloons is about the destruction of civilisation and the end of man-kind still tickles me. It's just such a fun song. I'm gunna put a petition together to get you to sing a cover of this song. Frankly I can't believe you recorded a video about, what is apparently, one of your favourite songs and you didn't even sing a line of it.
A dj I heard acknowledged If You Wanna Be Happy is blatantly politically incorrect. The song I've always found offensive is Lightening Strikes, recorded by Lou Christy. The message is clear--be a good girl and wait for me, honey, while I go out and sow some wild oats. For the life of me, I can't understand why this one doesn't make the ladies writhe with fury!
My opinion of you was already reasonably high after the Vibes review. Now I am officially a fan and have subscribed. The world could use more women of your caliber ma'am.
La Grange by ZZ Top, I Aint Got No Home by Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin, maybe half the stuff put out by Talking Heads, Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll Long John Baldry ... the long version with the introduction story
This isn't hard to understand, in EVERY EVERY EVERY relationship there's one more attractive than the other, she's usually hotter than him but not always. Jimmy was just saying if you prefer to get some sleep, be less stressed about where or who your mrs is with, or keep your hair, your youthful skin, stop drinking so much, stop doing so many hours overtime, stop chasing money you know lots of positive happy things in your life then be the hot guy married to an ugly bird, Simple as.
"I'm just a mess of contradictions and nostalgia." Me too, Pug. 🤷 P.S. If I pulled up next to you singing this in your car loudly, I'd probably follow you home. To me, hearing that would be like finding a unicorn or leprechaun. ✌🤣
Pug, You are very entertaining and fun to watch .....thank you for making me laugh!! this novelty song is right up there with Chuck Berry's "My Ding-a-ling"
72 here CO69 Listen up from his gray haired, former long-haired Hellraiser I raised my self on a transistor radio. It was the best listening to songs of the 60s, so much variety with good harmonies brass/orchestras the whole cuisine of music. Just Dig IT BABY!
Great reaction, especially the 'value added' part with Roaring Lion. But you are leaving us hanging here. Are you planning to marry an ugly woman, or not?
Ugly is harsh - think more plain or average - but they don't rhyme well. I heard this as a teenager (now 65) and in that context, always thought there was a great deal of sense to this logic. Pretty (well above average) girls are very hard work and will probably leave you (average man) at the first opportunity. Great for lusting after, great for one night stands or affairs... but marriage? Stress and worry and insecurity awaits. Beauty is only skin deep - and "pretty" girls often don't have to learn to be nice people (often - not always!) Pretty sure TikTok and OF have pretty much proved the point. 😁
So, what is the idea behind this song? Many years ago I read a story - "The Eight Cow Wife". Look it up. It is online. It was written by a gal named Patricia McGerr. It was originally published in 1965. I read it in Reader's Digest about 35 years ago. It explains the idea behind this song in a different, more socially acceptable manner.
I don’t know how the reception to this will be, but in my experience there’s merit to the song. Beautiful women, and even still beautiful people in general, tend to get their way. Otherwise batting your eyelashes when you want something wouldn’t be a human behavior. It may not even be intrinsic attraction, but how the person is treated which decides their outlook and personal dealings with others. I will now losten to the rest of the video, but before I do I wanted to say thank you for not immediately just haranguing the song for being old and “out of touch” or some such nonsense.
I like it because this song also works in reverse. We all know that pretty men or very handsome men are heartbreakers. If you want to be happy for the rest of your life never make a pretty man your husband. So from my personal point of view get an ugly man (who you’re still attracted to) to marry you.
Ugly dudes cheat more than good looking ones. For one, because many women have the same sgrategy. And good looking guys don't need to cheat. They just don't commit in the first place until they want to.
I used to think the song just sounded awesome but having seen the lyrics I love it even more, People can hate it all they want, but these bruthas were dead on with the lyrics. The lyrics are right. That's the way things really go in real life 80% of the time.
I like that song too and I think it’s held up well over 60 years. It rings true to me because very attractive women tend to be high maintenance, so there is nothing wrong with a guy wanting a woman who is not exactly what you’d call a super model.
Also to note, love your open booze cabinet, boosh \m/ I think you got the right idea of the song, but at the same time, you should listen to the original song because "Ugly Women" spells it out waaay simpler. I like your breakdown, but it's more simple than even that, and you laid it out pretty basically. But it's not about her being subservient and all that, it's more about the culture around it.
I hear you. My ex wife was actually less attractive than other women that I've been with. To be honest I chose her largely with the idea in mind that she was more likely to stay with me, similar to what this song is saying. Well guess what. She still ended up using the dual mating strategy. Totally messed up my life and I'm still trying to rebalance..
She’s not ugly, I can see her beauty come out if she wears a red/pink lipstick instead of that dark 💄 I think she’ll look way better but idk her story I just got here from a 100 songs that turn 60 in 2023 video. 🤷🏻♂️
Consider the lines of the third stanza of the song... A pretty woman makes her husband look small And very often causes his downfall As soon as he marries her and then she starts To do the things that will break his heart
This is fascinating. I've heard that people are naturally drawn towards symmetrical faces, but many celebrities considered attractive don't have symmetrical faces. And if you look at each decade, there's essentially a different socially-defined standard of beauty. I wonder if it's a sort of combination -- some intrinsic human attraction to a certain balance of features, with a mix of what our personal experiences make us feel drawn to, with an extra dash of what society tells us is beautiful. ....This was a much longer reply comment than your original comment, but I stand by it.
Humans are wired to be attracted to visual stimuli that follow the "golden ratio", the irrational number of 1.618... There's a mathematical principle involved in this infinite sequence of numbers that I don't understand well enough to explain. Artists use the golden ratio in the compositions of paintings and so on. And it's also why we find certain proportions more attractive in a face or a figure.
I once (and only once) heard a recording of this song that included a short intro by a girl ( girl's voice) saying something like " OK, I'll go out with you but first I need to get my hair done, will need some new shoes .......
Being controversial is the pinnacle of happiness so if any killjoy's got a problem. Tell em to buy a life if the slubs' haven't got one already or to watch lots of YTPs
Glad I waited for the perfect wife. Cooks all my meals and takes care of me and my family. My coworkers are shocked she does all that while being extremely beautiful. I'm not a looker (just average) and met her before I had money and working an entry level job. Just got lucky.
If you are a mentally stable person who does not have a lot of unresolved childhood trauma then you will end up with a mentally stable person who does not have a lot of childhood trauma either and you will end up with someone at a similar socioeconomic level as you and someone at about the same attractiveness level as you. People only date out of their league or beneath their league physically or financially if they have unresolved childhood trauma and need to over or undercompensate. So you will see that stable people tend to stay in their financial and physical attractiveness lane more often because they are not insecure about their place in the social dominance hierarchy.
Speaking of things that help make an Ugly woman a Delight lol the trolly or ( trolley) of alcohol behind you lol Pair that with a nice homecooked meal, that proves the point of the song haha :P Edit: indeed there are many many songs from the 50s 60' and 70s that today would be a HUGE no NO, Example Kiss Christin sixteen, They basically sing of dating a sixteen-year-old girl that still in school lol, And yet that song is just as if not a lot more known and popular than a lot of songs nowadays.
