Poly-friendly songs & books

I hope no one minds if I just pop this "reply" in here - I can't add anything, but I'm not sure how to watch threads otherwise. ^^;;

I'm not sure if The Weakness in Me - Joan Armatrading really counts or not. What do you guys think? It almost seems a bit more about infidelity/temptation than poly. :\
 
I hope no one minds if I just pop this "reply" in here - I can't add anything, but I'm not sure how to watch threads otherwise. ^^;;

I'm not sure if The Weakness in Me - Joan Armatrading really counts or not. What do you guys think? It almost seems a bit more about infidelity/temptation than poly. :\

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To me any love song that isn't explicitly expressing exclusively monogamous sentiments is poly-friendly, so that songs like Katy Perry's "Unconditional" and Demi Lovato's "Give Your Heart A Break" fit under the poly banner. Or maybe I'm just making excuses because I really like those songs.
 
David Crosby (of Crosby Stills and Nash fame) wrote a song in the 60's when he was with the Byrds, called Triad. He recorded it with the Byrds, but it wasn't released by them until the 1990s. Apparently the other members of the group found it distasteful.

Crosby gave it to Jefferson Airplane and they did an awesome job with it. There's a Heinlein reference in it: water brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aej9wmoQ7M

Byrds version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgfiN0rbdpI

You want to know how it will be,
Me and her or you and me.
You both sit there with your long hair flowing
Your eyes alive, your minds are still growing
Saying to me
What can we do now that we
Both love you? I love you too
And I don't really see
Why can't we go on as three?

You are afraid, embarrased too.
No one has ever said such a thing to you.
Your mother's ghost stands at your shoulder
Got a face like ice, just a little bit colder,
Saying to you
You can not do that it, breaks all the rules
You learned in schools.
But I don't really see
Why can't we go on as three?

We love each other, it's plain to see.
There's just one answer comes to me--
Sister lovers, water brothers,
And in time maybe others.
So you see what we can do
Is: we try something new, if you're crazy too.
And I don't really see, why can't we go on as three?
 
Reckoning/Revelling

Listening to Ani DiFranco's double album Reckoning/Revelling (2001) again today, it sounded like the chronicle of a poly/mono relationship that hasn't been entirely ironed out yet (though perhaps that's mere projection?).

The song "whatall is nice" sounds like it's about realizing that one can inadvertently start merging with one's partner even if one has political objections to doing so:

"you were not a dot dot dot / waiting for me to complete you
and it was like I just forgot / to measure everything that I do

we woke up with the notion that enough is not enough without more
and then we pushed with one motion like the ocean heaves a wave at the shore
and you were not a dot dot dot / leaning forward expectantly
and I was not in such a rush / to insure my autonomy"



The song "reckoning" wistfully asks "remember when it was just you and me stepping up to bat?," then goes on to muse about how it stinks to realize you're more possessive than you thought you were:

"we thought we left possession behind / but truth was I was yours and you were mine ...
cuz nothing is as it appears / in the funhouse mirrors of your fears...
just tell me baby, that when you're done / with your marathon / you still got cab fare home
cuz the finish line is a shifty thing / and what is life but reckoning
and, you know / you are still the song I sing / to myself / when I'm alone"



The way that the song "grey" muses (in a way I find very familiar) about how difficult it is to quantify exactly what you want when your life has suddenly and significantly changed:

"what can I say / but I'm wired this way / and you're wired to me
and what can I do / but wallow in you / unintentionally
what kind of paradise am I looking for?
I've got everything I want and still I want more"



The entire song "School Night," which is also on this album, is about giving up a relationship due to prior commitment. This song is the reason that I'd describe the album as chronicling a poly/mono album, rather than a poly one. The "you" who's addressed in most songs is legible as poly; the "I" who's singing is not. I started to type representative line, then realized I was typing the entire song. So here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dih3n_6b8X8



And the song "revelling" seems like an illustration of NRE:

"you were so in love / that it was all you could talk about
and I think I felt a little left out / you were on cloud nine all the time
while I was levelling / I was wringing my hands and you were revelling
but then why shouldn't you? it was such a beautiful thing to do

would that I could get me some / of your yum yum delirium
I could level off the ground that we stand on
but with you down on bended knee / always looking up at me
that feeling of standing up together is gone
and though I love you through all time and space
my love always seems to take second place"
 
I want your girlfriend to be my girlfriend too...

Just heard this one...

Reel Big Fish


- cute, except for the "killing you" part:

"I Want Your Girlfriend To Be My Girlfriend, Too"

there's a little girl i know you
might know her to, she
looks so good she looks so
cute standin' next to you
and i don't know
what
to do i want
your
girlfriend to
be my
girlfriend too.
she's so %#&$!^
cute, i wish that she
was mine,
she's so %#&$!^ cute,
i'm gonna lose my mind
i don't know what to
do maybe i could kill you
i want your girlfriend to
be my girlfriend ...too.
 
You may be onto something polychronopolous.
 
The wonderful Lesley Gore passed away recently and radio stations have been playing her 1963 hit "You Don't Own Me" quite a bit since then. As I was listening to the lyrics, it occurred to me how it could be about a woman stating her preference for not only polyamory, but Relationship Anarchy!

You don't own me, I'm not just one of your many toys
You don't own me, don't say I can't go with other boys

And don't tell me what to do
And don't tell me what to say
And please when I go out with you
Don't put me on display,​
'cause​
You don't own me, don't try to change me in any way
You don't own me, don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay

Oh, I don't tell you what to say
I don't tell you what to do
So just let me be myself
That's all I ask of you

I'm young and I love to be young
I'm free and I love to be free
To live my life the way I want
To say and do whatever I please

A-a-a-nd don't tell me what to do
Oh-h-h-h don't tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don't put me on display​

I don't tell you what to say
Oh-h-h-h I don't tell you what to do

So just let me be myself
That's all I ask of you
I'm young and I love to be young​


I'm free and I love to be free
To live my life the way I want​
 
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