This has always been one of my favorite songs. It is one that I love to listen to over and over again. Back in 2010, 2011, & 2013 I used to play it so much, I would annoy my roommates.
I think they were happy when I moved on to something else.
Finally!
So the song is about a guy who hurt his girlfriend-most likely cheating on her
And emotionally abusing her
Jerk
So she left:
After she’s gone, he realizes his love and is remorseful-works on himself and sets on winning her back.
Aw! How sweet!
We don’t know how it turns out. Does she forgive him? Or is she too hurt that it is done? It’s up to you to decide that.
It was written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Rendall and first recorded by Franki Valli & The Four Seasons in the 1960s. Now you all know I LOVE The Four Seasons.
They are amazing:
But I prefer The Spinners version.
Help me! I’m confused!
I know me, me, preferring a remake over the original.
So the lyrics are the same:
I’ll be working my way back to you, babe, with a burning love inside
Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe, and the happiness that died
I let it get away
(Been payin’ ev’ry day)
When you were so in love with me, I played around like I was free
Thought I could have my cake and eat it too, but how I cried over losin’ you
See me down and out, but I ain’t about to go living my life without you
For every day I made you cry
I’ll pay and girl, till the day that I die
I’ll keep working my way back to you, babe, with a burning love inside
Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe, and the happiness that died
I let it get away
(Been payin’ ev’ry day)
Oh, I used to love to make you cry
It made me feel like a man inside
If I’d been a man in reality, you’d be here, babe, lovin’ me
Now my nights are long and lonely, and I ain’t too strong, babe
I just miss you so
Girl, but you’re too proud, and you won’t give in
But when I think about all I could win
I’ll keep working my way back to you, babe, with a burning love inside
Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe, and the happiness that died
I let it get away
(Been payin’ ev’ry day)
My road is kind alone
I just gotta get back home
I’m really sorry for acting that way
I’m really sorry
Oh little girl I’m really sorry
For telling you lies for so long
Oh please forgive girl
Come on (give me a chance)
Won’t you forgive me, girl
Hey (let’s have romance)
Ooh, forgive me, girl (let’s try again)
Come on, forgive me, girl
I want you over and over
And over and over again
I’ll keep working my way back to you, babe
With a burning love inside
Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe
And the happiness that died
I let it get away
(Been paying every day)
I’ll keep working my way back to you, babe
But it is how it is sung/played. I don’t know, for some reason I believe the lead singer is heartbroken in The Spinners version. And I love the part when he sings the last part-it just feels so real and I like the part he kinda sings/cry of anguish.
Reason and Romance (The Austen Series #2) by Debra White Smith
So I have started reading this series out of order.
But it doesn’t really matter as they don’t have to be read in a the order they were published. The books are modern day versions of Jane Austen. I started with Amanda (The Austen Series #5), which set Emma in Australiaand:
So after that I wasn’t too jazzed to read this book, a modern day version of Sense and Sensibility.
But I decided to keep an open mind and hope for the best:
Well let’s find out, shall we?
So the story takes place in Ohio, as Elaina (Elinor) and Anna (Marianne) Woods (Dashwood) have just lost their father; the family business; and due to a prenuptial agreement, their home.
Elaina, the reasonable sister, has just received her Phd and will begin teaching literature at the university the next town over.
Anna, the romantic, has not gone to college and doesn’t have a job. She lives at home with their mother, dreaming of the perfect guy to come along and sweep her off her feet.
One of the students, Ted Ferrars (Edward) in Elaina’s class, causes the always reasonable Wood to become a romantic as she finds herself captivated by his personality and character.
Swoon!
He turns out to be the brother of her sister-in-law, and the complete opposite with his kind and caring nature. He is a superb pianist and dreams of leading a music ministry at a church, while his family has dreams of him becoming a superstar.
While that relationship develops, Anna also finds herself with not one, but two potential love interests. When she relocates with her mother to the home they are renting from, their cousins, she is first pursued by the older, broody, Dr. Brandon (Colonel Brandon). She isn’t too interested in him as he isn’t “a romantic hero”.
Everything changes when she heads off to her new job only to have an accident and be saved by the handsome model, Will Kenney (Mr. Willoughby).
That’s what I want
Elaina sister tries to caution her to slow down, but Anna is caught up in her emotions and will not listen to any advice, only intent on doing what her heart leads her to.
Will both girls be able to allow a little reason and romance in their lives? Or will Eliana cool reason and Anna’s hot romance keep them from forming real relationships?
So what did I think?
I thought it was horrible. A lot of things just did not work or make any sense why the author went in that direction.
So let’s count them off:
A) The Story Doesn’t Work Not Having Elaina Living at Home
So in Sense and Sensibility, Elinor lives at home in the cottage, runs the household, and is able to witness Marianne’s reactions with Willoughby and advise her. In this Elaina has her own apartment in another city and it just weakens the relationship with her sister and family. All information has to be relayed by her mother instead of Elaina being able to witness what she is speaking out against and has no real clue what is going on. It also weakens the character of Elaina/Elinor as she loses her role of caregiver, which is partially why people feel secure in sharing with her their secrets. The author should have had her stay living at home, I mean it would have been easy to explain that she was worried about her grieving mother.
B) She Makes the Mom a Pushover
In the original story of Sense and Sensibility, Mrs. Dashwood was in the throes of grief. She had lost her husband, income, home, most of her belongings, life, etc: all at the same time. When Fanny came along and started insisting this and that, she went along as she was sad, depressed, confused, numb, etc. In this she just gives in to everything because she “doesn’t like conflict”, which was not how it was in the book!!!
C) Hot for Teacher/Hot for Student
I don’t care how old they are I hate the teacher-student relationship. First of all it is against University policies as it could cause bias and because you are taking advantage of a relationship and power you have over the other. I don’t care that they “don’t really date”, as Elaine is intent on trying to form a relationship, something she should not have done or waited until he was no longer in her class.
D) Whatever Happened to Baby Margaret Dashwood?
So in the original novel there are three sisters, the youngest being Margaret. Why do modern adaptations always get rid of siblings and make people only children or mess up their birth place? I mean there are whole psychologies that discuss how your place in the line of family helps form your character and personality, and I think a lot of modern adaptations mess this up when they cut out the siblings.
E) Ted Cheats on His Fiancé
So in Regency time: flirting, courting, etc. was much different. In the original novel, Edward starts to fall for Elinor, and she him, and his attention causes her to think and hope he is interested. However, he never actually does anything about his feelings or makes any overtures as he is secretly engaged. In fact, most of the being lead on is from what Mrs. Dashwood and Marianne think is happening. In this, Ted actually cheats on his fiancé, clearing stating to Eliana in his actions and words that he likes her, while being engaged. I didn’t like that at all.
F) Elinor/Elaina a major flirt
In this Smith has Elaina as a major flirt with any guy that crosses her path. This is not true to her character or “reason” minded self. It also makes everyone think that she is dating Colonel Brandon, while in the book everyone knew they weren’t together and only Edward thought she was interested in him.
G) Elaina’s Favorite Book is Sense & Sensibility
Reading the book your book is based on? That’s not clever but overdone.
H) Debra White Smith is obsessed with Pantsuits
I mean seriously that is all anyone in this series wears when they “dress” up. I mean it is a Christmas party?! Why aren’t they wearing dresses?! You seriously think that the fashion conscious Anna would wear a pantsuit over a dress? At her age? Reading the fashion magazines she reads? I don’t think so.
I) Colonel Brandon and the Anna Relationship: Together in Five Minutes
So in the original novel, Marianne is dumped by Willoughby: tries to contact him with no replies; humiliated by him; tries to visit him; is taken ill; has to fight for her life; goes into recovery; is visited by Colonel Brandon; and over the time the two spend together she falls in love with him and encourages him to try to start a relationship with her.
In this Anna is sick, healed, and in love with Colonel Brandon intent on marrying him and becoming a nurse in like five minutes. It made no sense at all and I didn’t like how Colonel Brandon tells her his feelings first instead of allowing Marianne that time to overcome her heartbreak, be open to a new relationship, and fall in love with him.
J) Why a Nurse?
I don’t care if you boyfriend/fiancé is a doctor that is no reason to become a nurse! Especially, if you are bad with everything needed to become one. They should have just had Marianne continue as an interior designer, artist. or fashion designer. .
K) She Cut Out Some of the Best Parts of the Novel
Even though Sense and Sensibility has a lot of sad themes: depression, loss, grief, homelessness, poverty, dysfunctional family, heartbreak, betrayal, etc,: it also has a ton of hilarious moments as well. Like when Edward goes to tell Elinor the truth about Lucy and Lucy is there. Or when Fanny discovers the woman she has been promoting over her “plotting” sister-in-law has in fact long plotted to marry her brother!
Hilarious, comedic moments that only Jane Austen knows how to do. And they are glossed over or barely touched it.
L) Christian Fiction but Hardly Any Christian Themes
So this book says that it is “Christian” and talks about having “faith in God”, but that faith and relationship with God is never really even in the book.I mean if you want to write a Christian retelling of Emma then write it. If you want to write a non-Christian retelling of Emma then write that. Just don’t give me this lukewarm mess that is “Christian” but only a smatter. I mean go big or not at all, there is no in between.
So yeah, I did not care for this at all or found it to be a good adaptation or a good read.
I had never seen this movie before, but I knew that Brittany Murphy’s character in Little Black Book was obsessed with it.
I had also heard it had all these awards and people loved it. So when my friend and I spotted it on Netflix she and I watched it.
I thought it was okay, not spectacular but not horrible; and was surprised at the amount of awards it had won. But it did have a moment I thought was pretty romantic.
Tess (Melanie Griffith) is a secretary who dreams of becoming more, but finds that her Staten Island backgrounds stalls her from any promotion.
She also has a boyfriend that will never move things forward and is cheating on her.
After being sexually harassed by her bosses and ending her employment by getting revenge, she finds herself at the end of the line. Her last job for a female employer, and if she doesn’t make this stick she is out of New York.
Katherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver) is new to the company and takes Tess under her wing teaching her about proper presentation, the right way to speak, etc. Tess sees Katherine as her mentor and shares a great idea with her.
Katherine breaks her leg while skiing and is going to be out of the office for months. She sends Tess to do a few errands, and Tess finds out that Katherine stole her idea and was planning to pass it off as her own. This betrayal coupled with finding out about her boyfriend’s cheating on her, causes her to become so furious she decides that she is going to take over the deal herself.
Don’t mess with me!
She cuts her hair, borrows Katherine’s home, clothes, etc. She then approaches Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford) herself to get the deal rolling. The Harrison Ford scenes are the best: especially when he changes his shirt. 🙂
Aw!
The two start getting really close when things become super complicated!
Not good
Katherine comes home early, it turn out that her sometimes boyfriend is Jack, Tess’ cover is starting to crack, and Katherine tries to steal back the credit for the idea.
Most Romantic Moment:
**Spoiler Warning**
So the most romantic moment for me comes at the very end of the film. Katherine tried to steal back the credit and Jack; with Tess coming in and proving the idea was hers, that she is intelligent, and pulling of this amazing deal for the company.
Yay!!!
Tess is rehired for the company, (as Katherine fired when she tried to discredit her), and is extremely nervous for her first day back as she doesn’t know what to expect and is afraid of messing up again.
Jack prepares her lunch, hands it to her, and encourages her as she goes off.
How sweet is that?
Aw!
Especially when you compare him to her previous boyfriend. He just leached off of her, never took her out, never encouraged her, and the only thing he ever gave her was lingerie (really a gift for himself).
What jerks
Jack is the complete opposite as he supports her, comforts her, and calms her down; taking care of the tiny details so she could just focus on her duties.
So Bridget Jones’s Diary is a film I didn’t really like, click here to read why, but it did have a few romantic moments that I enjoyed, and here is one of them
Bridget Jones works at a publishing company and has the hots for her boss, Daniel Cleaver, (Hugh Grant). She is unhappy with her weight, smoking, alcohol consumption, and singleness.
Her mother tries to throw her together with recently divorced barrister, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), but Bridget thinks he is a snob and gets offended at something he says.
That guy
After a really embarrassing night she goes off with Daniel Cleaver. The two begin dating and he tells her that he had his heart broken when Mark, his best friend, took off with his fiancé.
What a jerk
Also to complicate Bridget’s life, her mother has split up from her father dating someone new.
Bridget is excited to show off her boyfriend, but Daniel is called away; and it turns out he’s been cheating on her the whole time.
Back to the ice-cream
Bridget leaves her job and takes another where she is mostly boobs and butt instead of a serious reporter.
Those guys
As she is trying to change her life, Mark says he loves her out of the blue.
Will Bridget be able to navigate her life through the twists others toss her way?
Most Romantic Moment: I Will Help You Cook and Eat What You Make
So Bridget has this bright idea to cook her birthday dinner, but unfortunately has no clue how to cook.
Mark stops by, out of the blue, and when he sees her uncertainty and lack of skill goes right into the kitchen to assist her.
A guy who cooks?
But the most romantic part of this, is not only does he get in the kitchen and assist in the cooking; showing he is not a snob, stiff, and destroying the image Bridget cooked up in her mind: but he actually eats the slop that Bridget made.
What?!
That’s real love right there, because that food looked and probably tasted disgusting. But Mark didn’t let that get in the way. He loved her so much he overcame such obstacles.
So this film is supposed to be a modern day retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice.
Strangely enough it stars two people who had been in films based on Jane Austen’s work. Hugh Grant plays Daniel Cleaver, our George Wickham, when he was in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility as Edward Ferras.
And then we have Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, having played Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (1995).
Now I understand why Colin Firth decided to be in the film, I read online that he thought it would distance him from the 1995 miniseries, along with killing the wet shirt.
But oh Colin Firth, you were so wrong.
That will never die
So let’s look at the film:
So prior to this viewing, I had seen the part where the mom has left the dad for another guy, the “vicars and tarts party”, and the very end in the snow.
From what I had seen I wasn’t really interested as I didn’t think it looked that good at all.
However, lots of people love it. Everyone says the films are funny and it was just given a third installment.
My friend is one of those who loves this film and she convinced me to watch it with her.
I did and I really didn’t like it.
I just don’t get the love for this film!
It doesn’t really follow Pride & Prejudice, the characters aren’t that likable, the situations silly and don’t really make sense.
Mark & Bridget Falling in Love
Mark (Mr. Darcy) and Bridget (Elizabeth) barely have any screen time together, so they don’t really have the opportunity to grow in a relationship. This is a problem with modern adaptations as in the original tale (and in history), when people visited they didn’t stay a few days, they stayed weeks or months. Darcy spent a long time with Bingley, encountering Elizabeth when she came to assist in her sister’s recuperating. And then again when Elizabeth stayed with Charlotte. But here they meet up at a family party her parents are throwing, a dinner party, accidentally while she is on vacation with Daniel (Wickham), and they fall for each other?
It doesn’t really work. They should have had them spend more time together. I mean he decides to forgo a new career in New York, throws himself at her feet, etc. We should see why he would.
Bridget is an Empowering Character. Or is She?
Bridget is constantly being sexually harassed but does nothing about it.
What?!
I know! Look at the little tagline there, it says
“For anyone who’s ever been set up, stood up, or felt up”
And it acts like it is going to be real empowering or something. And is it? No!
Bridget never stands up for herself or does anything about; choosing to just suffer through it. We have her creepy uncle who every time he sees her grabs her butt. Does she tell him off or her parents so they stop inviting him? No. Instead she just lets him continue.
And then when Daniel gropes her in the elevator and says inappropriate comments, does she do anything? No She just lets him do whatever.
And then there is the way that her new job treats her, as breasts and a butt.
What kind of message is that saying, especially since it is “based” on a character who is renowned for the beauty of her wit?
I mean I’m not asking her to go all out like this:
I’m just asking for her to stand up for herself.
Where Oh Where is the Witticism?
Where is the wit? Elizabeth was a great character who always put her two cents in.
In this Bridget is made to be more of one who never thinks but just spouts off the first thing that pops in her head.
If only people followed this advice.
She is nothing like who she is based on at all.
Why Does Bridget Continue to Believe Daniel?
Why does Bridget go on believing Daniel after she finds out that he is a big fat liar?
Daniel tells Bridget this story about how Mark Darcy slept with his fiancé, being the nail in the coffin of hate. But then we find out that Daniel is a a liar and was not only cheating on Bridget, but she is the other woman.
What jerks
Yes, he was in a relationship the whole time and leading Bridget on with no intention of ever having it be more. Then when Bridget quits, we discover that Daniel had been keeping Bridget from moving ahead as he wanted to keep her to dabble in.
Why does she think anything he said is the truth? When I found out my ex cheated in me I was really angry:
But it also made me question everything he did and said. Why wasn’t it the same for her? I mean in the book Elizabeth doesn’t find out that Wickham is a liar until Darcy reveals what he did. And as soon as she sees him again, she lets him know that his drivel isn’t welcome here.
Why Did They Have Her Parents Separate?
I really don’t understand why the film has the mother and father split up. It doesn’t really enhance the plot or create growth for the characters. I mean the only thing it “adds” is that with the mom out of the way the truth about Daniel’s lie isn’t given until the end. I also didn’t like that she comes home on Christmas and everything is okay, the parents are back together. There isn’t even an emotional payoff in that.
Why Would Darcy Read Bridget’s Diary?
So Bridget leaves Mark downstairs while she changes out of her embarrassing underwear. She tells him to make himself comfortable and read some magazines and he reads her diary.
Really? I do not see Mark ever doing something like that when he has other options. He’s just not that type of guy at all.
And her running after him in the snow with no pants or coat. Yeah right, she would freeze before she met up with him.
Bridget’s Friends are Atrocious
Bridget’s friends are awful.
All they do is give horrible advice or make the situation worse.
Where is level-headed and realistic Charlotte?
Where is the kind, caring, always seeing the good Jane?
We have Tom who makes the situation worse, bringing the fight into the restaurant and the wait staff out; Shazzer who just complains and places all kinds of doubts in Bridget’s mind; and the other friend who just cries all the time.
No thank you.
So I haven’t read the book, (maybe I will like that better), but as for this film, except for a few good moments, I just don’t see why people like it. I don’t like it.
janeaustenrunsmylife 