Thursday Inspiration #248 It’s Obvious

Respond to this challenge, by either using the prompt word cook, or going with the above picture, or by means of the song ‘It’s Obvious’, or by going with another Au Pairs song, or any other punk rock song, or you can go with anything else that you think fits.  The Au Pairs were a short-lived post-punk band from Birmingham that recorded the song ‘It’s Obvious’ on their 1981 debut studio album Playing with a Different Sex.  The original lineup featured Lesley Woods on guitar/vocals, Paul Foad on guitar/vocals, Jane Munro on bass, and Pete Hammond on drums and they are all credited with writing this song.  I liked this song the first time that I heard it and it was obvious to me that it was about a relationship of some type, although it was not obvious what was going on in this relationship.  It discusses the couple as being equal members in this partnership, even though they are different from each other, and both of these things are good.  Nowadays concerns the present time, in comparison to the past and they are spending time together.  The lyrics seem to be very concerned about equality, which can be important for sustaining a relationship, but it is rare when each person contributes equally.  Equality in relationships goes beyond just the absence of discrimination or bias, as it encompasses the idea of fairness, and mutual respect.

Equality should not mean that everyone is doing the same thing, as in order for a partnership to work, tasks need to be distributed.  I think that is what this song is trying to say, as when one person cooks the eggs, then the other person should wash the dishes, making them equal but different.  If one person washes the sheets, then the other one could do something else like clean the bathroom.  I have no idea how to explain the line, “Send a buck”, but this usually means that she wants to see how easy it is for her to manipulate him or her if the relationship is about two women, without her having to reciprocate, which may be the key to understanding this song.  I am thinking that this relationship may be one sided only being like paradise for one of them, like the one who is getting their back scrubbed by the other, or the one that is taking it easy while the other one cooks breakfast for them.

Yes it’s nice
It’s paradise

Nowadays, you cook eggs
Equal breakfast and again and
Bet it’s nice

You’re equal but different