Day 134 - If You Don't Know Me By Now

At some point during the road trip this weekend, I heard this song (as I have a million times when riding with my father who loves old school music), and I began thinking about the words.
"If you don't know me by now, you will never never never know me..."  To me, this says that there is a relationship that has been long enough that the singer expects his love to have a fair amount of knowledge of him.  There's an expectation of intimacy and trust because of their relationship and shared time, but it appears that this hasn't been enough to convince the person he's talking to, because this person seems to still have some questions or to not know him as the lyrics imply.
"All the things that we've been through, you should understand me like I understand you.  Now, girl, I know the difference between right and wrong.  I ain't gonna do nothing to break up our happy home.  Oh don't get so excited when I come home a little late at night, cuz we only act like children when we argue fuss and fight."  Not only has their relationship had some length to it, but there have been occurrences and tough times that have given their relationship character and depth.  Because of this, his love should definitely have seen the depths of who he is and be able to trust and understand that he wouldn't hurt her.  So even if he comes in late, that shouldn't be cause for concern on her part, because she should know that his heart is with her.  And besides, the fighting, in his mind, is silly.
"We've all got our own funny moods - I've got mine; woman, you've got yours too.  Just trust in me like I trust in you.  As long as we've been together, it should be so easy to do.  Just get yourself together or we might as well say goodbye.  What good is a love affair when you can't see eye to eye?"  Amen for people and their moods.  This is true of every person alive, so I can definitely see his point here.  At the end of the day, a relationship has to be about trust.  It would seem that there may be some insecurity on the part of the loved one that may be causing this strain.  While seeing eye to eye isn't necessary all the time, in things like trust, it's important.
Now, I will say that, while trust is key, it is important to be aware of the person you are in relationship with.  The singer seems to be saying that his character and their relationship offer no reason for her to be concerned.  While he may be truthful, there may be others who use this song as a way of manipulating something into trusting them when that trust is not deserved and will be abused.  It should also be noted that people tend to change/evolve, so naturally it follows that people change in relationship.  This is not to say that a trustworthy person will not be trustworthy next year, but it is to be noted that people can change.  Thus, it's important to be aware of and discuss these changes, because such things can lead to questions/insecurities, especially within intimate relationships.