After years of skepticism, hurt, and careful guarding of her heart, Melissa Andrews is finally able to trust for the first time since hearing Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” in the 5th grade. She’s now willing to put herself back out there.
She’ll never forget where she was when she heard the song at Michael Goldstein’s Harry Potter-themed bar mitzvah. After unwrapping presents, including a brand new Nokia cell phone, everyone headed to the dance floor. That’s when Melissa experienced 3 minutes and 47 seconds that would change her life forever.
“Honey came in and she caught me red-handed creeping with the girl next door.” It was heartbreaking. The unnamed woman in the song caught Shaggy banging in the shower, on the sofa, and even on the counter. Despite this, he blatantly denied having sex with this other woman. Melissa was only 11 at the time, but she “heard the words that [he] told her” and was upset by them. From then on, the phrase, “It wasn’t me” haunted Melissa crush after crush, date after date, affecting all her budding relationships. She felt like no one could be trusted.
Finally after years of therapy, Melissa is learning to move on from the song. She still occasionally has dreams about a man butt naked. But now in those dreams she finds herself closing the door and walking away. To Shaggy’s “It wasn’t me,” she says, “And that’s no longer me.”
While “It Wasn’t Me” sparked outrage in Melissa’s heart and mind for over 18 years, Shaggy did leave her with one piece of useful advice: “Seein’ is believin’.”
