The song “Memory I Don’t Mess With” by Lee Brice is a story of how the artist sees what seems to be an ex-girlfriend that he is still not over or is sad that he lost in the first place. Throughout the lyrics, there are some that fit the masculine stereotypes but also some lyrics that don’t reinforce the stereotypes for men. Since this song is about how the male in the relationship feels, I was not able to find any clear feminine stereotypes.
Link to song lyrics: https://genius.com/Lee-brice-memory-i-dont-mess-with-lyrics
Masculine Stereotypes
- “Cold Walk in December, Warming up your hands”
- In a relationship, oftentimes, it is normal or stereotypical for the male to offer his jacket or do certain things to make his girlfriend comfortable. This lyric implies that during the cold he would help warm up her hands, which fits the male stereotype in the relationship.
- “I’m close as I can get, To a memory I don’t mess with”
- These lyrics can be argued to be both stereotypical and non-stereotypical of males. When thinking of it being stereotypical, some may say that during a breakup males tend to just forget about it and not even think about it hence connecting to the lyrics “memory I don’t mess with”. On the other side, it could be non-stereotypical because it is implying that the male is admitting he is not over the girl which is why he doesn’t want to think about those memories.
The song as a whole, both reinforces stereotypes as well as doesn’t meet stereotypes. Following some time after the breakup, the lyrics show the artist’s soft and caring emotions which aren’t very common with male stereotypes. This can be shown in the lyrics “The one I was obsessed with”. Though it displays the gentle emotions of the male it also shows the effort he is making towards pushing any of those memories and feelings aside.
Shared by: Alli Engels
Image Credit: Google Images