The seventh song that I listened to was “Ready to Run” off of the album Four. The song has a heavy theme of an unknown future. However, as long as these two people have each other, they are not worried about what will happen.
Quick Note
As we start to move into the albums Four and Made in the A.M., we can notice One Directions growth and maturity in their song writing. More specifically, we are moving away from the ” I’m a guy and I want you because you are pretty and a girl” vibe and into some more serious themes. While my portfolio assignment is not going in order by album release date, I feel this is important to point out. The themes and presentation of masculinity/femininity are, generally, not going to be as blatant in Four and Made in the A.M. as in songs previously analyzed from earlier albums. There is one exception to this though which is the song “Steal My Girl” from Four, but that is a couple of posts away.
Evaluating Masculinity
The song carries an air of “I don’t know whats going to happen but I’m willing to take the risk with you” in it.
“This time I’m ready to run (oh-oh)
Wherever you are is the place I belong
‘Cause I wanna be free
And I wanna be young
I will never look back, now I’m ready to run”
Taking risks and being ambitious is traditionally considered a masculine trait according to the Sex Role theory. However I think this subverts expectations of masculinity because the main character of this song is throwing all of their trust into their partner like in this lyrics:
“This time I’m ready to run (oh-oh)
Wherever you are is the place I belong”
Wherever their partner is is where the main character wants to be. This song is walking the line of wanting to be free (more masculine) but being somewhat dependent on the other person in the relationship (less masculine).
I would like to make another note and say that my use of “main character” and “partner” in this post is intentional. Unlike previous songs, Ready to Run doesn’t necessarily build its story using a heterosexual couple. This song constructs its story around trust and taking risks and offers the listener to fill in themselves and their partner.
Shared by: Gabby Kohn
Image Credit: Pinterest