Andrew Smiler wonders why there has never been a true “male anthem” in popular music.
Women have “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” by Cyndi Lauper and “Man! I feel Like a Woman!” by Shania Twain.
Guys? I’m not sure. I listen to a lot of music, especially pop music. In the three decades I’ve been listening, I can’t think of a song that talks about guys the way Cyndi and Shania talk about girls.
I’m starting to wonder if there are any “male anthems”—songs that the vast majority of guys can connect with, but relatively few girls will really “get.” It’s the kind of song that when it comes on, all the guys start singing along, but none of the women do.
Some female anthem songs are relationship songs. On the down side, there are things like Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch” and Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughtta Know.” Then there are songs like Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” and Kelly Clarkson’s “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”. Admittedly, Clarkson’s song tells basically the same story as “I Will Survive,” just updated for a new century.
The late Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money” speaks to women’s strength to endure hardship.
At parties, women sing along and dance to these songs, but guys avoid these songs. Well, the straight guys anyway. Several of the effeminate gay men I know celebrate these songs the way that women do.
I don’t hear—and can’t really come up with—any songs that make me think “male anthem.” I know that there’s a subgenre of rap songs where the performers basically introduce themselves and talk about how great they are, but none of those seem like they have a broad enough appeal.
In fact, I’m not quite sure what a male anthem would sound like. The closest I can get are things like George Thorogood’s “Born to Be Bad,” but I think the only parties where I’ve heard that played—and sung loudly by a group of guys—happened in fraternity houses. Personally, I’m not sure that bad-ass image is something we should be celebrating. It certainly doesn’t really sound like a “good man.”
The Good Men Project has agreed to take nominations and help figure it out. Please leave your suggestions in the comments below. Give us the title and the artist’s name and we’ll do the rest. Remember that comments with 2 or more links are automatically held for moderation, so there may be a short time before they appear.
Deadline: July 27 (the opening of the Summer Olympics)
Photo of music instruments courtesy of Shutterstock
Finally! THe top 10 can be found here:
https://goodmenproject.com/good-feed-blog/finally-the-top-10-top-male-anthems/
Well, there is John Parr’s St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion), which actually is an anthem and is all about surviving and thriving in spite of what life throws at a man.
http://johnparramerica.com/johnparrstelmosfire
For those who don’t know the song, you can watch the video at the link above.
As with all list making endeavors, there comes a time when the person who originally called for the list needs to hone the criteria. On That Metal Show on VHI Classic they do a Top Five (drummers, songs about Satan, debut records etc.) list every week, and about half the time viewers are disappointed in the picks for the simple reason that the criteria was not made clear and the list is all over the place. In fairness, Eddie Trunk and his co-hosts have admitted that they get the Top Five topic very near to the beginning of the show,… Read more »
sorry Mark, thought I’d posted the link for the follow up: https://goodmenproject.com/good-feed-blog/seeking-a-male-anthem-2nd-verse/
am currently writing the finale. That’ll probably go up Thurs/Fri, so if you have final thoughts, now’s your chance. Better to comment on the 2nd verse piece.
Hey Andrew, you question inspired me enough to write a full-fledged response piece. Thanks
https://goodmenproject.com/good-feed-blog/top-ten-male-anthem-nominees/
Maybe guys don’t need a “I’m a man. I’m strong!” anthem.
Mind you, there’s plenty of Metal/Rock songs on the lines of ” I will take everything you throw at me and keep coming.” “You cannot beat me ” “Stand up and fight back” etc.
Off the top of my head:
Hatebreed – In Ashes You Shall Reap/I will be heard
Disturbed – Indestructible
Tesla – Comin ‘atcha live.
Judas Priest – You Got Another Thing Comin’
Thunder – Stand Up
Saxon – Never Surrender
Eruption by Van Halen
Maybe for TGMP …. Toby Keith – I Wanna Talk About Me
For dads? Rodney Atkins, Cleaning This Gun (Come on in Boy). OR Bob Carlisle’s Butterfly Kisses
It’s great how an “women’s anthem” celebrates being a whore and reduces men to a paycheck and disposable beast of burden, doesn’t it? Yeah, you go throw away months of hard-earned cash on a ring, otherwise she thinks it’s entirely okay to cheat on you with a man who can and will pay massive amounts of cash to you.
I wonder what that says about women.
Will Smith : Men in Black
yup, for me its fine.
Brilliant.
“Man in Black” – Johnny Cash
“Lukewarm” – Jonah Matranga
“Sweet Life” – Jonah Matranga
These are 3 songs by and about very good men.
Why not “It’s a Man’s World” by James Brown or “Mannish Boy” by Muddy Waters and covered by a host of others.
“I’m a Man” by the Spencer Davis Group (“there’s whiskers on my chin”)
Or for us GBT or Q guys, “Lola” by The Kinks (“I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man and so’s Lola”)
I can think of loads of real blokey songs and classic rock and pub rock and real MAN songs, but hardly any that actually fit the criteria of celebrating being a male as a male anthem. The only one that I can really think of is one that has already been mentioned – “The Boys are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy. It’s about being a man among men, it’s about maleness, it’s macho, men will always sing along to this when drunk in a pub somewhere, and it is explicit about celebrating masculinity in the same way Cyndi Lauper… Read more »
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If you take note of the lyrics from the perspective of relationships and gender roles, then Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe”, while perhaps not suited for an all-around anthem of manhood, has some good lessons.
Cat’s In the Cradle
And oh yes, how could we forget the Monty Python Penis Song!
Frank Sinatra is not exactly pop music, for most of our age groups anyway. But there’s a mythic maleness, a tough eloquence, about his music and image.
I could see “My Way” as an anthem with its theme of self-determination. Maybe “One For My Baby (and one more for the road)” as another, which is about love, loss, drink, and honor – it includes the line, spoken to a bartender, “I could tell you a lot, but you’ve got to be true to your code.”
If you define an anthem as something that gets guys out on the center of the floor singing together then I can’t think of any anthems for guys. However, if two (or more) guys sitting in a room can look each other in the eyes as a song plays and share a common moment of “this is who we are/or want to be” then two songs immediately leap to mind.
“Like A Rock” Bob Seger
“The Gambler” Kenny Rogers
If you define an anthem as something that gets guys out on the center of the floor singing together then I can’t think of any anthems for guys
I’ve known that to happens. Songs I’ve heard sung that way include “We Are The Champions” (Queen) and “In The Army Now” (Status Quo).
It’s certainly also true for “Go West” and “YMCA” (both Village People), but that’s unlikely to happen outside the gay community.
“It’s certainly also true for “Go West” and “YMCA” (both Village People), but that’s unlikely to happen outside the gay community.” “Call Me Maybe” is the song for it right now. Katy Perry’s Fireworks and Lady Gaga’s Born this Way do it too…but Call Me Maybe pretty much gets everyone on the dance floor to sing along right now. Though, none of those are really male anthems…they’re not really female anthems either. Fireworks and Born This Way are queer anthems, and Call Me Maybe’s mostly gender neutral with the lyrics, plus there’s a 2 second gay moment at the end… Read more »
Agree. And the Call Me Maybe video is cute (+ I totally dig why Mr. Lust Object is going for the guitar dude ;-). The thing about Go West and YMCA is that they *are* clearly male songs. Videos, too. Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wc-AQJ2MYo
Not ‘good’, perhaps, but certainly a male anthem: Masculine by Meat Loaf. And a lot of his other work, actually, but you can’t really get more direct about it than Masculine.
The last campfire I was at where a bunch of “Good Men” we’re sitting around singing together, all the songs about figuring out what it means to be a man, making (and sometimes losing) a home and family, being a provider and caretaker, passing lessons from father to son…those were all country songs. I don’t know much about country music, except that it’s got the largest (or 2nd) number of fans in the US.
Country is a possibility, because it does try to mirror the self-image of its audience. Male or female, that audience is working-class or comes from w-c values; White; Christian; and socially and culturally conservative. That presents a few problems for men who don’t share those values beyond good honest work. But then again, it’s probably a lot to ask that a pop male anthem be inclusive. Maybe early country, or even cowboy, songs would go down better. They weren’t PC of course, but they didn’t usually put their beliefs center stage; they weren’t marketed to a demographic. May I ask,… Read more »
If it’s to be a country song, clearly it would have to be “A Boy Named Sue” (Johnny Cash).
“One Man Guy”, Rufus Wainwright.
Thanks (R)evioluzione, J P McMahon, John Anderson, Lars Fisher. Keep ’em coming.
Oh. I always thought 90% of rock / pop music was just that? We just don’t usually think about it as male anthems because rock is so male dominated that it’s pretty much a given. After all, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” makes a point by having a female perspective; just look at the video – lots of women having a grand old time, but not done for the male gaze, none of them taking their clothes off. If you want a song that is directly celebrating the male perspective, maybe try Queen: Don’t Stop Me Now Beastie Boys:… Read more »
“I always thought 90% of rock / pop music was just that? We just don’t usually think about it as male anthems because rock is so male dominated that it’s pretty much a given.”
Exactly what I was trying to point out.
Oh. I always thought 90% of rock / pop music was just that? We just don’t usually think about it as male anthems because rock is so male dominated that it’s pretty much a given.
Maybe because of rock/pop being a genre of many genres but I don’t get that. Maybe a “that’s what those guys are calling their anthem”?
Bon Jovi, “It’s my Life”
Tom Petty “I Won’t Back Down”
If you want to take about porn use and objectification
Def Leppard’s “Photograph”, which really rocks by the way.
Kenny Loggins “Playing With The Boys.”
Rush “Tom Sawyer”
Skid Row “Youth Gone Wild”