There’s this pop song that’s high on the charts in Belgium right now, Aurélie. You can find the French lyrics here and the song here… I’ve translated it below.
[CHORUS:]
Aurélie is only 16 and she’s expecting a child.
Her friends and parents suggest abortion.
She disagrees and sees things differently
She says she feels ready to be called “Mommy.”This song is for all the Aurélies,
The ones who have given their lives.
For all the Aurélies,
Mothers at any cost.
[end chorus]She’s in high school in a school in the suburbs,
She started dating a guy from her neighborhood
He’s just her type, a little bit older
He seems in love, they have everything to be happyShe’s never done it, she’s waiting for the right guy
She says “bingo,” they’re alone in his Twingo
So it’s going to happen, she takes off her top
And they do it.After nine months he doesn’t step up and leaves like a bastard
She’s discovered that after all he’s a douchebag
The result is that she finds herself alone in this story.[Chorus]
And of course she will always remember the day,
The day she told her parents
The day she told her mom and her dad,
She told them she’d been pregnant three months.
She didn’t expect them to jump for joy
But she still hoped they’d prove to be in good faith.
The least I can say is that this wasn’t the case.
And the fight began.She had to quickly build a home
Face up to her responsibilities, pay the rent
Find a well-paying job that she pays a lot for to afford it.
She would have tried anything.She did everything she could to find someone who could help her
But when you’re not a VIP like Mathilde Seigner
Clinging to this story taught her a lesson.We’ve all known a girl like Aurélie
Someone for whom pregnancy is an epic struggle
Rejected by friends and family alike
Who refuse to accept that she just wants to give life
This is what I’d say if I were to say what I thought:
Bringing a child into the world shouldn’t be punished
It’s the most beautiful thing in the world, and if you don’t accept that, you haven’t understood anything…[chorus]
So like… I think it’s great that he’s saying pregnancy shouldn’t be punished, because it shouldn’t. But on the flip side, he’s also kinda saying that it’s great for 16-year-olds to drop out of high school and take up minimum wage jobs to have kids. He’s making it out to be this big glorious sacrifice. And since he’s writing the song, he can make it so that she never once considers abortion. I’m not sure how realistic that is, even among the lifiest of pro-lifers.
Also, childbirth is the most beautiful thing in the world? Gag.
Notice that Aurélie has no goals. He doesn’t talk about how she’s sacrificing her dreams of becoming a great neurosurgeon or her desire to travel to Italy. Her only real goal in life is to have this kid (Also, LOL@him calling the dad a “bastard” for leaving).
You can tell that Belgium is pretty different from the US, though, in that her friends and parents are pressuring her to get an abortion, not to keep the pregnancy…
