Turn Your Love Around

Wow George Benson - did you ever nail it!

Sitting on the edge of unrequited love, the singer is a man in love with a woman. He uses the romantic artistry explicit in the comparison of girl and woman, wistfully teasing us with two complimentary notions about love. First how the "girl" represents young love where he implies the love we had 'when we were younger' as in a marriage where people are on the edge of growing apart or any relationship that has moved past the honeymoon phase into the struggle - be it apathy, indifference, or the grind that just wears away our affections. Secondly he reminds us how love rejuvenates and makes all things new again.

I wonder if back in 1982 when George Benson released this song he saw how women were on the verge of new roles in our society and how that may have caused issues for some couples. Regardless he reinforces the timeless notions that men need women, women need to feel special/sought after/wanted, men have to fight for and sacrifice for women, and women need men to do so. In a way he's telling women (or at least this woman) that you can have both; the key is being in love.

I wish I could talk to George Benson and see if he agrees. I have known a woman just like the one in the song. Picking my moment, I took her to a Karioke club (with several of her girlfriends, printed the words to this song, and unexpectedly came out on stage performing this song in a club full of people who all could see I was singing to her. We've never been happier since then.

Thank you George Benson! You know what it's like and recorded it so exquisitely. I hope others benefit from the magic of your poetry.