Talk about a creepy blast from the past.
I was listening to some early-2000’s country on Spotify the other day when a song came on that I hadn’t heard in forever – “Mrs. Steven Rudy” by one-hit wonder Mark McGuinn. At first it took me back to junior high, back when this song was played literally everywhere. And it’s catchy as hell, so I decided to run it back and give it another listen.
But then I started actually paying attention to the lyrics, and I realized – holy shit, this song is really creepy.
It’s basically about a guy who has some kind of voyeuristic obsession with his neighbor’s wife. He’s going outside in the mornings just to catch a glimpse of her sitting on her porch in a robe, he’s dreaming about her every night, and he’s fantasizing about finally getting his shot to be with the “neighborhood beauty.” Is this what I was jamming out to back in 7th grade?
And the music video…yikes. It looks like it had a production budget of approximately $137, and it’s just McGuinn looking like a beatnik in some futuristic (for 2001) looking room singing about this woman that he’s fantasizing over. I mean, is this what Mrs. Steven Rudy sees when he’s looking into her window at night?
One of the comments sums it up best: I’m surprised there wasn’t a follow-up song from Mrs. Steven Rudy called “Mr. Mark McGuinn – Restraining Order.”
Of course, this isn’t the first or last creepy country song that we’ve gotten over the years. Remember “That Summer” by Garth Brooks, a song about a boy losing his virginity to an old widow while he was working on her farm? (And if you flip the genders in that one, holy shit).
Or how about Tyler Farr’s “Redneck Crazy,” which is pretty much the ultimate crazy stalker anthem about a guy camping out outside of a girl’s house after he catches her cheating? Yeah, some of these songs are pretty messed up when you actually dig into the lyrics.
So if this song was part of your childhood like it was mine, sorry to ruin it for you.
But hey, it’s still pretty damn catchy…
