What Really Happens After he Cheats?

The song “Before he Cheats,” by Carrie Underwood has been played millions of times, through headphones, speaker, car radios, and so much more. The song is well known by many and has left a imprint on country music as a whole. The single was one of the first country songs to ever really break the barrier between deep southern country and today’s pop culture music. “Before he Cheats,” won a grammy for “Song of the Year,” as well as recieved many other notable awards.

The song is written from a first person point of view, making it seem as though Underwood wrote it about herself. The song is based around the idea of a man cheating on his significant other, being Underwood, and her reaction to what he has done. She attempts to get revenge on him by taking things into her own hands and messing with him.  Although the song “Before he Cheats,” features a woman who shows a great amount of agency, the song also promotes multiple stereotypes of women in America.

The song begins with Underwood talking about her significant other being with another girl. She mentions different things that he would most likely be doing with her, then continues on to insult the girl. One line reads,

“Right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink.
Cause she can't shoot whiskey…”

By including this line, Underwood is only putting herself down and making herself seem like a worse person, as well as promoting a stereotype of a jealous, over attached girl. The stereotype of a women being envious of a significant other is a common one. It’s not seen in just movies and television shows, but in also in the way many people think now a days.

The song goes on to show her reaction to what he does. She becomes impulsive and violent, which only further plays into the crazy girl stereotype. The chorus itself has these three lines in it:

“Carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,
Slashed a hole in all four tires…”

These lines are repeated three different times throughout the song, which leaves the listener with pretty clear picture in their head of what is happening. Carrie Underwood writing about how she commits a legal crime by destroying his property, doesn’t really help demote the idea of a “crazy girlfriend,” or the idea that girl over react to everything.

The point of view can also be flipped here, if brought back to the original point to the song. The actions that the male has been said to take apart in, play into the role of a guy who has no respect for women and treats them horribly. Yes, there is always gonna be people out there that are truly self centered, but not all guys are, that’s for sure. This song just automatically makes the guy out to be a bad person, which isn’t really spreading a good idea of men out there.

Therefore, this song is most definitely not a feminist piece of work as there is no strong argument for gender equality. Even though though Underwood shows agency, by taking matters into her own hands and getting revenge, this doesn’t really put across the best image of women out there.

Stereo Hearts

In 2011, the song "Stereo Hearts" by the Gym Class Heroes was released as a single. I remember back in sixth grade when this song came out, and it was my mission to memorize all of the lyrics. This song was not only extremely catchy, but it has a deeper meaning of when you get knocked down, you just have to keep getting up and fighting through the adversity of life.

The artist and lead singer of this song, Travie McCoy, is expressing how his heart has been broken but he's right back in the game talking to the next girl.

Furthermore, I apologize for any skipping tracks
It's just the last girl that played me left a couple cracks  

What Travie is trying to get across is that the reason he seems nervous is because he has recently had his heart broken and he is scared that it might happen again. Although this is the message getting across, he doesn't just flat out say that he is nervous. The artist uses a metaphor, comparing himself to a record, saying although there is scratches, or rough memories, they won't effect him in the present day.

Another metaphor that Travie uses is to compare people to cars on an interstate. What he is trying to portray is that you should cherish your relationships while you have them, because you never know when they could slip through your fingers.

Appreciate every mix tape your friends make
You never know we come and go like on the interstate.

Travie McCoy is trying to get across that taking friends and significant others for granted is exactly how you lose them. This metaphor is most likely relatable to a majority of teenagers in high school. Off the top of my head I can think of about fifteen cases of people getting left in the dust by their friends because of the way they treated them. No one has time to deal with drama, especially when there are a million other things to worry about in high school, so they just ditch the friend that is causing the problem.

Through the multiple uses of metaphors, it is clear how the hit single, "Stereo Hearts", by The Gym Class Heroes can be seen as poetry. The idea of getting a statement out in the world through music is truly moving to me and shows me that poetry is much more than just a two week unit in english class.