King of Anything

With Sara Bareilles's new album (affiliate link) coming out tomorrow, I thought I would post a link to the music video of the album's first single, “King of Anything.” If you haven't “met” this song yet, it is delightfully upbeat with a delicious splash of sarcasm. Nevertheless, more than mere fluff, it offers a truthful interaction with a real problem: people who offer advice without being willing to listen.

Below is the second stanza. Bareilles states the real problem in the last two lines of the verse. I think of conflicts I have written about on this blog and mark how well those final two lines describe the cause (or, at least, accelerant) of conflict.

The first rule of counseling is apropos: listening should be primary, opinion giving should be kept to a minimum.

You sound so innocent, all full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset

I’m not the one who’s lost with no direction
But you’ll never see
You’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down, just not the listening

Imagine how many conflicts would never happen if we got the listening down rather than the talking.