On the 4th day of "pre CD release" Eric gave to me

We only hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest.
- Frank Luntz


“I expect that Woman will be the last thing civilized by Man.”
― George Meredith



This post will be a very short one simply because "Amy It Ain't" is a pretty straightforward relationship song. I will say it is one of the meaner songs I've ever been a part of writing. .
The hook line "...you think it's love. But Amy It Ain't" is pretty dang cold blooded.

But the real emotion of this song (which is very similar to "Nothing Personal". Although I'll describe the differences when we get to that one)
is an emotion of frustration from being misunderstood.

This was not autobiographical in the sense that there was a specific girl named Amy that I had to say this to (read: the names have been changed to protect the innocent). However I have very much been in the exact situation as the storyteller.

It is a very frustrating feeling when you have explained your thoughts and feelings to the nth degree , you know the person you were speaking to understood, yet they later pretend they didn't. And that goes for any relationship not just romantic ones.

The most frustrating part of this whole situation is a woman's selective memory. And I am not woman bashin at all (I understand men's flaws as well) but this selective memory is universal among women. Here's what I mean:

Women have the most intensely vivid, sharp , crisp memory for detail. They will tell you the cotton to polyester blend percentage of the shirt you had on "one Tuesday the summer before" while you took the garbage out , for example.

Their memory is literally something I am in awe of. It is brilliant and of a level I know I can't ever hope to attain. But I've seen it in action over and over enough to know that women's memories are remarkably sharp.

This fact only makes the relationship talks that much more frustrating. In the song "Amy It Ain't" the guy has (previously) explicitly explained to Amy that what they have going on is not love but just two adults enjoying hanging out. I imagine he has actually told her many times plainly and bluntly.

So when , some time later, she pretends to have zero recollection of said conversations it infuriates the guy.

He is thinking "I KNOW she remembers us discussing this because she remembers everything. Yet I get to be the bad guy and it looks like I am the one who changed. When in fact I was straight forward from day 1"

The frustration he feels at being (in his mind anyway) falsely made into the bad guy when he KNOWS Amy remembers their discussion, makes him actually get meaner than he would typically be (hence the "you think it's love but Amy It Ain't").

In the end it really boils down to Luntz's quote :
"We only hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest"