# Why the dearth of songs about women's love for their guy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428 "2013-11-08T16:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/1 "2013-11-08T16:25:09Z")
I just realized the other day that there are a lot songs about men’s love/crush on a girl/woman. Off the top of my head: [ul] [li]Amanda[/li][li]Mandy[/li][li]Living Next Door To Alice[/li][li]Annie’s Song[/li][li]Sweet Caroline[/li][li]…[/li][/ul] And I can’t think of a single one about a woman’s love/crush for a boy/man. I assume they exist, but I don’t know any. So, my questions are: 1. Are there any songs about a woman’s love/crush for a boy/man, sang from the woman’s perspective? 2. If the answer to (1) is yes, is the number of such songs similar to the number of the songs about a man’s love/crush for a girl/woman? 3. If the answer to (2) is no, any theories why that might be the case? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/2 "2013-11-08T16:26:55Z")
I would suggest that it’s a direct result of the ratio of male to female singers in pop music. If you look at female singers (and especially at female singer-songwriters) you’ll find plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/3 "2013-11-08T16:28:44Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > And I can’t think of a single one about a woman’s love/crush for a boy/man. I assume they exist, but I don’t know any. Here’s one: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r1M5eEJeT38/hqdefault.jpg "Mary Wells - My Guy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1M5eEJeT38) ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/4 "2013-11-08T16:36:10Z")
Doesn’t the majority of Taylor Swift’s catalog fit into this category? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/5 "2013-11-08T16:53:47Z")
No, they’re about how he was a dirtbag and didn’t deserve her and blew his chance and how lucky she is that he’s gone and it’s too late for him to mend his ways. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/6 "2013-11-08T16:55:26Z")
Listen to country radio. You’ve got about 80 years of catching up to do. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/7 "2013-11-08T16:58:28Z")
[My Heart Belongs to Daddy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCuIyA7kXvI) [Whatever Lola Wants](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g5YNPzr8NM) [Mickey](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW7VnHnX3LQ) ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/8 "2013-11-08T17:01:31Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I would suggest that it’s a direct result of the ratio of male to female singers in pop music. If you look at female singers (and especially at female singer-songwriters) you’ll find plenty. Not sure about that. If you look at the top hits of famous male pop singers right now (Bieber, One Direction, Bruno Mars) I think a much larger majority of their songs are about girls and how much they love them, than if you look at the top hits of famous female pop singers (Beyonce, Pink, Miley, Adele). Even Taylor Swift, mentioned in another comment, may not have that many about a guy and how much she loves him (based on a cursory search of her lyrics) I admit that I’m not up to speed with the latest pop songs, so the above statements are based on my basic interaction with pop via the radio but, for example, the first songs from Bruno Mars that comes to mind is “Just the Way You Are” (about a girl) and the first song from Beyonce that comes to mind is “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” (not about a guy). It seems a lot of songs from women singers are about how some guy broke their heart (Alanis Morissette’s “You oughta know” being the poster boy for this), or something about how empowered they are or should be. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/9 "2013-11-08T17:01:34Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I would suggest that it’s a direct result of the ratio of male to female singers in pop music. That’s probably 90+% of it. All of the OP’s examples are, of course, songs sung by male singers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/10 "2013-11-08T17:03:34Z")
Plenty of them: _My Man_ (Fanny Brice, though Streisand sang it in **Funny Girl** ) _Bill_ from **Showboat** _Can’t Stop Lovin’ that Man_ from **Porgy and Bess** _Mad About the Boy As Long as He Needs Me_ ( **Oliver!** ) _Piece of My Heart Frank Mills_ ( **Hair** ) _Wedding Bell Blues_ (Laura Nyro, but best known version by the Fifth Dimension) _I Feel the Earth Move_ (Carole King) _My Guy_ ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/11 "2013-11-08T17:13:10Z")
Isn’t this reflected in poetry as well? The traditional view is that men initiate romantic and/or sexual encounters, and the ones who do it well can win women over. I once read a point, made cynically, that men are defined by what they can do, while women are defined by what can be done _to_ them. It’s tempting to say that’s an idea that died out thanks to efforts of our parents’ and grandparents’ generations, but has it really? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/12 "2013-11-08T17:23:36Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > So, my questions are: > > 1. Are there any songs about a woman’s love/crush for a boy/man, sang from the woman’s perspective? Of course there are. Otherwise Tom Lehrer wouldn’t have had to write [“She’s My Girl.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4p2iZTIDog) [QUOTE=Tom Lehrer] I’m sure you’re familiar with love songs on the order of He’s Just My Bill, my man, my Joe, my Max, and so on where the girl who sings them tells you that, although the man she loves is anti-social, alcoholic, physically repulsive, or just plain unsanitary, nevertheless she is his because he is hers, or something like that. But as far as I know there has never been a popular song from the analogous male point of view, that is to say, of a man who finds himself in love with, or in this case married to, a girl who has nothing whatsoever to recommend her. I have attempted to fill this need. The song is called She’s My Girl. [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > 1. If the answer to (1) is yes, is the number of such songs similar to the number of the songs about a man’s love/crush for a girl/woman? > > 2. If the answer to (2) is no, any theories why that might be the case? I suspect that there may be a lot more love songs _addressed to_ women (by men) than _addressed to_ (rather than just about) men by women. If this is the case, it’s related to the trope of men wooing their fair maidens by singing to them (and not vice-versa). Traditionally, men are the chasers. They attempt to win the favors of the object of their affection by telling her (often in song) how lovely she is. The women attempt to win the favors of the men by _being_ lovely. ETA: Posted before I read what **Greg Charles** wrote, but it looks like we were thinking along similar lines. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/13 "2013-11-08T17:25:05Z")
Not a Joni Mitchell fan, I see. [Carey](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFGrRSVW8jk) [Willy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHyKCduedxM) [My Old Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1_PIuEmj8s) [Case of You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAsXMlkwXgs) [Court & Spark](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4enC_DzK6U) [All I Want](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq2jhs19_V8) [Chelsea Morning](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOkxuuQOmRg) [Morning Morgantown](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7LlozbVHuo) …and scads of the rest of them. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/14 "2013-11-08T17:39:56Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > I just realized the other day that there are a lot songs about men’s love/crush on a girl/woman. Riiight. Dude, she dumped you. Let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/15 "2013-11-08T17:44:05Z")
My first thought: [I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton John](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOyUUCJY6kE) Doesn’t get much more heartfelt than that. (Actually my second thought, but My Guy was already mentioned.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/16 "2013-11-08T17:44:24Z")
Yeah, I kinda reject the OP’s premise. What am I supposed to do with **Janis Joplin’s Another Piece of My Heart** or **Aretha’s Respect**? ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/17 "2013-11-08T17:50:29Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Yeah, I kinda reject the OP’s premise. > > What am I supposed to do with **Janis Joplin’s Another Piece of My Heart** or **Aretha’s Respect**? How on earth is Respect about her love or crush for a guy? All she is doing throughout the song is demanding that she get some respect. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/18 "2013-11-08T18:38:28Z")
Heart (Ann & Nancy Wilson) has a ton of them - probably about half of what they write/perform. Just of their first album you have _Magic Man, Love Me Like Music, Crazy on You_, and _How Deep It Goes_. Others off the top of my head - Donna Summers _Llove to Love you_, the Chiffon’s _He’s So Fine_, Aretha Franklin _Natural Woman_ ---
**Author:** ![Depakote\_Chopra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@Depakote\_Chopra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Depakote_Chopra)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/19 "2013-11-08T18:47:56Z")
Tammy Wynette, “Stand By Your Man”. The ultimate song about a woman’s devotion to her man. The fact that it’s country and counter-feminist makes it even better. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428/20 "2013-11-08T18:49:38Z")
Well, some more: Forever in Love - Katy Perry …Baby One More Time - Britney Spears Magic Man - Heart Whatta Man - Salt-n-Pepa / En Vogue You Are the Man - En Vogue First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack I Say a Little Prayer - Dionne Warwick I Will Always Love You - Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston All the Man I Need - Whitney Houston Saving All My Love for You - Whitney Houston You Give Good Love - Whitney Houston I Get So Emotional - Whitney Houston I Have Nothing - Whitney Houston (hell almost anything by her) Forever Your Girl - Paula Abdul The Way That You Love Me - Paula Abdul Let’s Hear it for the Boy - Deniece Williams Like a Virgin - Madonna Cherish - Madonna True Blue - Madonna Lucky Star - Madonna Crazy for You - Madonna Lost Inside of You - Barbra Streisand Evergreen - Barbra Streisand The Boy Next Door - Judy Garland (from “Meet Me in St. Louis”) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-dearth-of-songs-about-womens-love-for-their-guy/673428.md?page=2)