There’s no denying that Sam Cooke’s hit single, “Another Saturday Night”, is one of the catchiest tunes of all time. I can’t tell you how many times I’m walkin’ through my house on any given day just belting out “another Saturday night and I ain’t got nobody. I got some money ’cause I just got paid. Now, how I wish I had someone to talk to. I’m in an awful way.”
Yep – the whole thing. Not just one or two lines. If that thing hits my brain, I’m going through the whole chorus and I’m singing it as loudly as I possibly can for my cats to hear.
But, the last time I belted it out, I thought “does Sam Cooke really deserve our empathy here?” It’s always worth considering the deeper message of a song or story, and the more I listened to this song, the more I felt as if Cooke actually plays a large hand in his own misfortune. Let’s take a deeper look at this lyrics.
I got in town a month ago
I seen a lotta girls since then
If I could meet ’em
I could get ’em
But as yet, I haven’t met ’em
That’s why I’m in the shape I’m in
Here, Sam admits that he’s seen the girls in town…but he hasn’t met them yet….and man, if he could only meet them, all his worries would dissipate! Well, Sam…my friend…they are right over there! You say yourself that you can see them! So, why don’t you meet them then? Just introduce yourself!
Are we supposed to pity you because you can’t introduce yourself to a woman? Are you insinuating that because you have money you shouldn’t have to? I don’t know, brother – I’m having a hard time reading this situation and feeling sorry for you. It sounds to me like this whole thing could’ve been avoided if you had just been like “hi, I’m Sam” to someone. But, let’s proceed to the next verse and see how this thing develops.
Now, another fella told me
He had a sister who looked just fine
Instead of being my deliverance
She had a strange resemblance to a cat named Frankenstein
First of all, I hope he’s talking about the doctor because the monster’s name is not Frankenstein. Anyway, this points at a higher standard. At a certain point, your standards have to come down if you don’t want to feel lonely anymore. Are you telling me, Sam, that you are too good to go on a date with someone that looks like Doctor Victor Frankenstein? Seems quite shallow to me for a man who is incredibly desperate to find companionship. Let’s venture on in this song.
It’s hard on a fella
When he don’t know his way around
If I don’t find me a honey
To help me spend my money
I’m gonna have to blow this town
So, let me get this straight….you claim you can’t meet women because you can’t meet them even though you’ve seen girls all over town, your boy brought a slumpbuster to you and you turned it down, you keep talking about your money as if that should be reason alone to meet a woman, and it’s just not going your way so you decide to uproot your life and leave town? Where’s the patience? Where’s the depth and acceptance? I can’t even fathom thinking “well if I can’t meet a woman here, I’m going to LEAVE TOWN!” What are you, Sam? A nomad? Maybe that’s part of your problem.
I don’t know – the people I’ve known who are obsessed with superficial things and have unreasonable standards are often the shittiest people. I’ll let that sink in for a minute before I give Sam here anymore of my empathy. Just a thoughtful consideration on this fine Thursday.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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