Last year a new band named Magic! shot up the charts with their hit debut “Rude,” a song about a guy who asks his girlfriend’s parents if he can marry her. When her parents say no, he says they’re being rude and that he’s going to marry her anyway.
Benji and Jenna Cowart have responded with a version of the song that they call “the dad’s side of the story,” which ends a little differently for the lovestruck young man…
Of course, the video has generated debate between people who think the parental version is an overreaction and those who think the kids in the original Magic! version are being disrespectful. YouTube commenter Tu Pham said,
The original Rude song made a legitimate point — that an adult daughter is not her father’s property…
This dad (although talented) is appealing to outdated ideas and the insecurities of other fathers not being able to control who their daughters marry, and putting up some fictional target (a guy working in fast food as a living, whilst Magic are a successful band) to tear down with his prejudices and threats.
And then there’s Benji and Jenna’s response…
Tu, hey I appreciate your comments and I’m responding because you have been very fair and kind in the way you have expressed your thoughts. I think in writing this joke response to Rude’s original, I was thinking more of what I would say if a guy told me he was going to marry my daughter regardless of my opinion.
I think that’s where the dad in me would blow up a bit and even say some things that are irrational. Even though this song is a joke, I’d never want to have a laugh at someone else’s expense. With the burgers and fries line, I was more thinking of the whole picture of a 28-year-old dude living in his mom and dad’s basement and not just taking a crack at a fast food worker.
The whole song is just trying to channel a dad’s gut response to a hypothetical dude telling him he’s marrying the man’s daughter regardless of what the dad thinks. When it’s all said and done, I hope my daughter (when that day comes) marries a man who loves her regardless of his job, race, and income.
If I have been a good dad, then she’ll have a good idea of how a man should treat her and I won’t have to punch anyone in the face (cuz even if I did, they’d just laugh at me cuz I’m not that strong anyways).
Thanks again though for pushing back and making me think on this.
Of course, if the only opinion that matters is that of the band who sang the original song, then there’s no harm, no foul. The band tweeted,
Awesome job Benji & Jenna! Hilarious!!