All-right,
Maybe I’m over-thinking this rather silly song. I do that.
I’m looking at it this way:
First, there’s a conflict of ethical bases here.
Here are two young people in infatuation, or “puppy love,” or whatever.
Which is a God-given seed that leads to greater and greater love through matrimony.
Puppy love is not enough in today’s society to withstand money problems, problems with children, health, lusts, addictions, etc.
And then the marriage is no more.
The singer states “we’ll be a family” when he is splitting the extended family which instead of being a support through rough times will look at the couple as a disappointment. This is a redefinition of family. What is this, a family of two?
From
Rerum Novarum, an encyclical by Pope Leo XIII - still relevant today or Pope John Paul would probably not have felt compelled to write
Centesimus annus:
Paternal authority can be neither abolished nor absorbed by the State; for it has the same source as human life itself. “The child belongs to the father,” [quoting Saint Thomas Aquinas in *Summa
] and is, as it were, the continuation of the father’s personality; and speaking strictly, the child takes its place in civil society, not of its own right, but in its quality as member of the family in which it is born.
In today’s society permission is no longer required, I’m not sure it’s necessary (at least in our culture) - But I asked for permission before I married my wife of twenty-seven years and her father was not opposed to the marriage. - And if he had been I might have reacted in a similar manner to what this young man describes when I was young, stupid, and in puppy love - but I would have been wrong to do so and I doubt we would still be together today had I done this. At least without extraordinary special dispensation of mercy and grace because both our families supported us (more than just finances) through tough times.
There’s the “old school” idea a man should ask for permission - at least blessing or at a minimum approval - before marrying a daughter. There is reason for this. I am guessing the (maybe fictional) father in this song might have seen through this young man, and seen he would be someone who would “marry her anyway.” Blessing and permission are a hot topic in the comments.
In the “old way” of doing things, a Father might have placed conditions on the marriage, for example: “Put your music job second, get a real daytime job using that degree you just earned to help pay off the student loans you just incurred while you and my daughter were off at college falling in love with each other. Oh yeah, and go to RCIA. Then we’ll talk.”
So, with the deep puppy love this young man has, the most he is willing to do before giving up and doing what he wants anyway is get in a suit once and ask for permission (for which no is an answer he won’t take?)
And the young man takes the moral high ground here. It’s the father who’s rude here? Really?
…And this song is intended to be romantic for it’s young audience, who may not be able to see its true message.
…And the tune is really catchy. I mean, musically it’s a great song and I love the music.
