Turns out, men sing about their relationships as much as women. Here’s proof.
It doesn’t look like Taylor Swift will be appeasing her critics anytime soon. In spite of writing her own original music, Swift has been hounded for her autobiographical songwriting, having penned quite a few tunes about past relationships. Ms. Swift sat down with Australian radio show, Jules, Merrick, and Sophie to discuss her upcoming album, 1989. When asked about the folks who criticize her personal songwriting, Swift spoke to the double standard in the music industry.
Granted, she has written songs about some high-profile relationships, but this is certainly no reason to vilify her or her music. In a world full of relationship-inspired songs, why focus solely on Taylor Swift? If anything, we should be celebrating the fact that musicians like Swift still have the artistic integrity to write their own music.
Having said that, we’re pretty sure there’s been a fair share of guys who have penned songs about breakups, makeups and everything in between. Let’s celebrate with a list!
1. John Mayer – “Paper Doll”
John Mayer wrote this alleged rebuttal to Taylor Swift’s “Dear John.” Mayer addressed the rumors on the TODAY show, saying, “songwriters write songs because of people, about people. Anything someone else wrote is their reception of a song. I don’t get involved with [it]. It’s none of my business.”
2. Bruno Mars – “When I Was Your Man”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Mars revealed that the inspiration for this song came from his girlfriend, Jessica Caban. Although the two never parted, the thought of losing her was devastating enough to make him write “When I Was Your Man.” Mars claims that it’s difficult to perform the song, having to “[bring] up all these old emotions again. . . it’s just like bleeding!” No kidding.
3. Ed Sheeran – “Don’t”
According to an April interview with Rolling Stone, Sheeran’s song, “Don’t” is about “a real-life fling with another singer that grew ugly when she slept with Sheeran’s close friend while he was staying in the same hotel.” Sheeran also spoke to Daily Mail about the relationship, claiming to have written over 40 songs about the ordeal. Sheeran has not yet dared to release these songs due to their dark and angry nature.
4. Kanye West – “Blame Game”
Talk about dirty laundry! West did not shy away from peppering this song with tidbits of his relationship with then-girlfriend, Amber Rose. Rose went on the record and claimed that Kanye “talked reckless about me on [My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy].”
5. Bon Iver – “For Emma”
Before the release of Bon Iver’s album, For Emma, Forever Ago, Justin Vernon endured a breakup with not only his girlfriend at the time, but also his band. He went into a voluntary “hibernation” for three months and came out with one hell of a debut album.
6. Robin Thicke – “Get Her Back”
Robin Thicke’s split from actress Paula Patton was nothing short of a media circus. Once the dust had settled, Thicke penned an album dedicated entirely to her. Aptly named, Paula, Thicke claims that “the album is exactly what happens when you lose the love of your life and you’re trying to figure it out in your head. How am I going to move on and get through it all? We just weren’t happy together anymore and I still had so much I wanted to apologize for.”
7. Third Eye Blind – “Forget Myself”
In case you didn’t know, Charlize Theron dated Third Eye Blind front man, Stephan Jenkins in the early ’90s. When the two parted ways, many assumed that “Forget Myself” was about her. With lyrics like “Those sapphire eyes/The brilliant girl with the famous thighs” it’s hard not to speculate.
8. Antônio Carlos Jobim – “Girl From Ipanema“
I knew this swanky old tune had to have a story behind it! In 2012, the Guardian actually tracked down the actual girl from Ipanema, Helô Pinheiro. Apparently, she still loves the song the same way she did 50 years ago. I can only speak for myself here, but it must be pretty flattering to be immortalized as the “Girl From Ipanema.”
9. Justin Timberlake – “Cry Me A River”
“Cry Me A River” goes down as one of the most visible responses to a breakup in recent memory. The song and video did nothing but perpetuate rumors about the tumultuous breakup between Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.
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