Monday, September 24, 2007

Gender roles in song titles

In shameless imitation of Adam's ingenious idea, here's how my iTunes library shapes up.

Female Agent/Subject

She Knew What She Was - Adam Parrish
She Says - Ani DiFranco
I Want You (She's So Heavy) - The Beatles
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - The Beatles
She's A Woman - The Beatles
She Loves You - The Beatles
She Said She Said - The Beatles
She's Leaving Home - The Beatles
If She Wants Me - Belle & Sebastian
She's Losing It - Belle & Sebastian
She Talks To Angels - The Black Crowes
She's Your Lover Now - Bob Dylan
She Belongs To Me - Bob Dylan
She'll Come Back To Me - Cake
She'll Hang The Baskets - Cake
She Needs My Love - Damian Marley
She Can't Burn Me Now - The Del McCoury Band
Keep Her While She's There - The Del McCoury Band
She Sings Songs Without Words - Harry Chapin
Dance (Oft She Visits) - Henry Purcell
She's Saving Me - Indigo Girls
She Is The Swallow - The Ivytree
Something In The Way She Moves - James Taylor
She Said She Was A Dancer - Jethro Tull
She's Like A Swallow - Lorinda Jones
She Moves Me - Muddy Waters
Nobody Knew She Was There - Peggy Seeger
April Come She Will - Simon & Garfunkel
She's Actual Size - They Might Be Giants
She's Your Cocaine - Tori Amos
She's Got Her Ticket - Tracy Chapman

Male Agent/Subject

When He Reached Down His Hand For Me - Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys
He Was A Friend Of Mine - Bob Dylan
He Came From The Mountain - Bruce Cockburn
He Taught Me How To Yodel - Burnett Family Bluegrass
Give Him One More As He Goes - The Carter Family
He Never Came Back - The Carter Family
He Took A White Rose From Her Hair - The Carter Family
He Moved Through The Fair - The Chieftains
He Ain't Comin' Home No More - Nina Simone
He Was My Brother - Simon & Garfunkel
He Woke Me Up Again - Sufjan Stevens
In This Temple As In The Hearts Of Man For Whom He Saved The Earth - Sufjan Stevens
What's He Building? - Tom Waits
A Quick One While He's Away - The Who

Female Patient/Recipient/Object

And I Love Her - The Beatles
To Know Her Is To Love Her - The Beatles
I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
Tell Her About It - Billy Joel
If You See Her, Say Hello - Bob Dylan
They Call Her Mother - The Carter Family
Keep Her While She's There - The Del McCoury Band
I Saw Her Again Last Night - The Mamas & The Papas
For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her - Simon & Garfunkel
Promise Her Anything - Tom Jones
All The Girls Hate Her - Tori Amos
If You Can Touch Her At All - Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson

Male Patient/Recipient/Object

Give Him One More As He Goes - The Carter Family
Tell Him - The Exciters
Let Him Go On Mama - John Hartford
Bring Him Home - Les Misérables
First Shot Missed Him - Mississippi John Hurt
You Can Have Him - Nina Simone


Some Conclusions

According to my music collection, women...

know things, know people, say things, are heavy, come in, are women, love, leave home, want me (or not), lose it, talk, are lovers, belong to people, come back, hang things, need love, burn men, exist, sing, visit, save people, are swallows, move, move other people, are like drugs, have tickets (32 tokens)

Men, on the other hand...

are friends, come, teach, go, don't come back, take things from people's hair, don't come home, are brothers, wake people up, build, are away (12 tokens, omitting "he" meaning "God")

As patients or recipients, women are...

loved, known, seen, told things, called "mother," kept, found, promised, hated, touched (12 tokens)

As patients or recipients, men are...

given things, told things, let go, brought home, missed by gunfire, had by women (6 tokens)


Summing up: Wow.

1 comment:

Ron said...

Hmm...it would be interesting to ask an international student what their song titles are on Itunes and then do some cross linguistic comparisons...