By The Landlord
“Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” – Albert Camus
“There is a fine line between serendipity and stalking.” – David Coleman
“When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.” – Eric Cantona
Fifteen or more years ago, if you said you were being followed, or indeed admitted that you followed someone, the implications would mostly be sinister. The word would be most likely would be associated with stalking, spying, or obsessive love. Now it more commonly has other associations, largely because of social media – following someone on Twitter, for example, could mean you simply admire or are interested in what they have to say, or because you are a fan, or a friend. And then there is the entire marketing-driving surveillance issue where we get into sinister territory. So, the creepy aspect could still apply online or in person, and that's why, with a slight twitch towards the spooky traditions of 31 October and Halloween, this week's topic can touch on different aspects of following or being followed, stalking or being stalked, from innocent, genuine healthy interest, to all the scariest associations of pursuit.
There's a wide spectrum here, but the topic is essentially about following another person, or perhaps an animal pursuing or being pursued rather than the more metaphorical example, such as following dreams or instincts, or choosing not to follow the crowd or herd.
But while following, actively or passively, from harmless contexts to harmful ones, from innocent admiration all the way to dark, violent obsession, for this week's topic perhaps the most potent is where the act of following is ambiguous. Who is following whom? Who is doing the chasing, and in the thrill of it, when falling in love, who is chased, rather than, indeed, chaste? But within that, where does love begin and unhealthy obsession end? Following or being followed is, after all what we are hardwired to do, whether to hunt down prey, or find a mate, and in the latter case all kinds of emotions ensue. And that is where song can capture them so perfectly, in that uncertain state of flux. Wanting, needing and chasing can often be more exciting than catching, or finally being caught.
At the extreme end of course, stalking is psychologically very damaging for the victim, but it is also a terrible mental health problem for perpetrator. Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Lily Allen have all been in recent high-profile cases, the latter having a seven-year ordeal that began with a tweet, and came to a climax when the stalker broke into her bedroom.
So in song there is plenty of room for nuance, and perspective from both sides. Some songs may not be about stalking per se, but could they be about someone who might turn out that way. I Put A Spell On You, for example? And consider the lyrics, and everything occurring in imagination of the narrator during The Turtle's chirpy pop song So Happy Together:
Imagine me and you, I do
I think about you day and night, it's only right
To think about the girl you love and hold her tight
So happy together
If I should call you up, invest a dime
And you say you belong to me and ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be, so very fine
So happy together
Talking of “imagine”, in this clip John Lennon kindly talks to homeless man sleeping in the grounds of his house. The fan obsessed with the Beatle, convinced his words were written just for him, but John tries to give him some perspective.
The Beatles’ A Hard Day's Night (1964) may be all about fans chasing the Fab Four, but really it was an entertaining marketing vehicle, so in turn, the band to chase their fans. So let’s enjoy some of it set to another music associated with even sillier chasing:
Now, stalking their way into the Bar this week, a select group of musicians and actors have sought to seek refuge with us from their fans to talk about the subject. Madonna has arrived with her various bodyguards, but she’s also constantly looking behind her to check that she still has fans chasing her.
“Being famous has changed a lot, because now there's so many outlets, between magazines, TV shows, and the Internet, for people to stalk and follow you. We created the monster,” she says. And that’s all too correct.
The former Doctor Who star, David Tennant also arrives breathlessly from a police box, to agree, especially on the internet front. “Twitter! It's like being stalked by committee!” he says.
The paparazzi of course are the ultimate media stalkers. Here’s what a couple of film stars have to say about that.
“If an ordinary person parks outside another ordinary person's house for a week, it's considered stalking. If, however, that person is considered newsworthy, it's perfectly legal for paparazzi to do the same thing,” says Vince Vaughn, ordering a beer.
“Yeah,” says Brad Pitt, coolly. “I know when I go outside, there'll be a van or two and they'll probably follow us four out of seven days a week, trying to get something. But I'm just going across town and I know they're just wasting their day, so it doesn't bother me anymore.”
Eric Cantona’s famously offbeat media statement was a parody of the attention upon on, but Jim Carrey has created a solution to the stalking of stars problem. “Well, ever since I started to get recognition I've picked out certain fans and reverse-stalked them.” Perhaps he got his inspiration from his obsessive character in the film “The Cable Guy”, the black comedy about the man who has a buddy crush on a customer.
In response, Ryan Reynolds has arrived, and he can’t help but add some dry humour. “Hey, well, are you stalking me? Because that would be super.”
Tom Waits orders a black coffee and adds more subtle perspective to the entire process, and illustrates a way to avoid being stalked in the natural world: “I saw a crow building a nest, I was watching him very carefully, I was kind of stalking him and he was aware of it. And you know what they do when they become aware of someone stalking them when they build a nest, which is a very vulnerable place to be? They build a decoy nest. It's just for you.”
Stalking is perhaps scariest when the pursued doesn’t know who the stalker is or why they are doing it. It’s a classic film plot and while there are many chases in horror films, here are few less obvious ones to help inspire some song nominations.
In 1971’s Play Misty For Me, a handsome DJ played by Clint Eastwood has a fling with a woman played by Jessica Walter who has been stalking him after hearing him on his radio show, and her song title request song thematically turns on a situation that spins out of control:
That year, 1971, seemed to be a bumper one for clever pursuit films. It was Steven Spielberg’s first full-length feature, the bizarre and brilliant road movie, Duel, in which with very little dialogue, a faceless truck driver continuously chases down a car driver with no explanation:
That year also began a decade of over-the-top car pursuit films, the screeching brakes beginning with two groundbreaking ones - The Burglars (Le Casse) a French film made, somehow, in dictator-run Greece, and of course The French Connection, shot in Paris without proper licences, causing mayhem and accidents and taking absurd risks:
Perhaps though among the greatest wordless chase came in 1959 with Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, and the brilliant crop duster scene. Again the fear factor is ramped up because the victim doesn’t know why he’s being chased or who it is.
Horror chases of the 1970s from Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining keep that tradition terrifying pursuits that come without reason or explanation, especially with Jack Nicholson’ s unhinged pursuit of his son and wife and son through the hotel and maze, while two of the best scary pursuits came in the form Rutger Hauer in The Hitcher (1986), and of course the ultimate, Terminator in 1984:
People will never stop chasing or being chased, but perhaps the most effective recent take on this is 2014’s It Follows, a teen horror flick based around an inexplicable evil force only visible to the victim who has “caught” the situation by having sex with the previous victim, a sort of metaphorical STD.
So then, it is time to seek safe haven in the hands of our more than capable guru this week, the wise and wonderful magicman! Place your songs about stalking, being stalked, following or being followed, and both, whether in the context of love, lust or anything else, in comments below. You’ll make it through safely if you do so by 11pm UK time on Monday, for playlists published on Wednesday. Let the musical chase begin!
Don’t look back, Danny. The Shining (1980)
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