You Better Ask

 

You Better Ask
Written by John Curulewski
Lead vocals by John Curulewski

I met a little girl sittin' in the front
Pardon me miss for seeming quite so blunt
But your beauty and your presence
Just took me by surprise

She said there's a meaning in my sexy stare
But that's my old man that's sittin' over there
And that's not the look of love that he's got for you in his eyes

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

I took her home and we was doing nip and tuck
How was I to know that I was out of luck
And before I knew it, the devil took my soul

In two weeks’ time it seemed to be the steady con
She told me "you're about to be a papa, John"
And I just looked around and tried to crawl into the nearest hole

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

[instrumental solos]

Well, in two more weeks I started feelin' sore
I found myself waiting at my doctor's door
He said, "son I'm sorry but I've got some slightly less than tragic news

"Yeah, it seems you've been sociable with certain shes
Cause you've contracted what we call a ‘social disease’
And next time you better ask, and use it, no don't refuse"

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

Interpretation

A reflection on all the things that can go wrong as a young man looking for a good time with a woman. First, he hits on a girl at a bar that turns out to have a jealous boyfriend nearby. After two weeks, the girl is pregnant. In another two weeks, he discovers that he has a sexually transmitted disease ("a social disease"). When the doctor breaks the bad news he adds "and next time you better ask and use it, no don't refuse," apparently suggesting that the use of a condom would be advised. The chorus really says it all, "you know what you gotta do/there's no one else to blame but you/nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask." In other words, take responsibility.