This Crack in the SSH
Everything is not as it might initially seem
While some music and literature is unmistakably indicative of one behavioral pattern or another, it should always be kept in mind that as understanding of both intersexual relations and the SSH improves, and as artists continue to incorporate it into their art with greater subtlety and skill, it’s going to be more and more difficult to distinguish between something that is genuinely indicative and something that is artistically accomplished.
Prince convincingly write Alpha songs like Kiss and I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, but he also wrote the angst-laden Little Red Corvette and I have no doubt that his musical genius was such that he could have written the ultimate Omega anthem, Radiohead’s Creep, and it’s not as if Radiohead were necessarily a collection of losers in the first place. A skilled artist, working in any medium, is capable of portraying a much broader range of emotions and perspectives than he necessarily feels himself.
I’ve always found it more than a little ironic that the greatest and most evocative song about going home to where you belong was written by three men who didn’t live, and were not even from, Alabama.
Consider the following song. How would you characterize both the songwriter and the musical protagonist? Listen to it before you read the lyrics, formulate a theory, and then read the lyrics and comment upon your conclusions.
THIS CRACK IN MY HEART
In the shadows of the evening
My mind breaks down unreasoning
She stands undimmed by darkest night
A vision in gold and blinding light
—
She moves like whispers on the air
With every step a silent prayer
I'm caught between desire and pain
A love so pure and yet profane
—
I've got a weakness you can't see
It's her beauty that's breaking me
Every time I'm torn apart
I'm left with this crack in my heart
This crack in my heart!
—
Her eyes they tell a thousand tales
Of promises behind her veils
I'm just a man who's torn in two
By a storm in grey and faded blue
—
I've got a weakness you can't see
It's her beauty that's killing me
Every time I'm torn apart
I'm left with this crack in my heart
This crack in my heart!
—
She rises to the highest heights
She’s the dream that haunts my sleepless nights
A scornful smile that flays my soul
Her beauty never leaves me whole
—
I've got a weakness you can't see
It's her beauty that’s shattered me
Every time I'm torn apart
I'm left with this crack in my heart
I’m left with nothing more than this
I’m left with nothing more
I’m left with nothing more than this
This crack in my heart
UPDATE: Now, see if the change in musical genre, utilizing almost exactly the same lyrics causes your perceptions to shift in any way.
I thought Delta for the protagonist and Sigma for the songwriter. Delta protagonist for the reason that he puts the girl on a pedestal but has a strong sense of duty he's trying to uphold that he feels responsible to externally, not an internal duty that a Alpha/Sigma rank man would have. The Alpha internal conflict would have more agency to it and concern for the consequences of his actions as opposed to this one where he says he feels unable to act.
Sigma for the songwriter because the description of protagonist's enchantment could only have been made from an outside point of view, I think. People under enchantment talk about how it makes them 'feel' but this song only describes the intensity of the attraction and the externally observable effect on the man which is to be cracked or in pain. It's a very surgical description.
On an unrelated note, sadly whenever I hear the country 'twang' intro I expect major cuckery to commence.
The lyrics are pure Delta through and through, but there's a lack of genuine-ness to the song itself - I'm reminded of John Mayer, who writes nothing but sappy Delta lovesongs but is himself an Alpha (and an insufferable asshole, if the rumours are true).
The song sounds like something an Alpha would write because he knows what women want to hear, even though he himself never quite gets to that emotional level that the song protagonist seemingly has. Sappy Delta tripe written by an Alpha is my estimation.