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Songwriter Forum => The Bar => Topic started by: CaliaMoko on March 11, 2023, 04:27:49 PM

Title: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: CaliaMoko on March 11, 2023, 04:27:49 PM
I am going to rant just a bit, but I will make it short.

I cringe every time I see a girl and a man romantically linked in a song (or story or whatever). How many songs (or stories, or whatever) have a boy and a woman romantically linked?

There. Short, like I promised.

Vicki
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: PaulAds on March 11, 2023, 04:52:57 PM
I misunderstood this at first, I think!
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: PaulAds on March 11, 2023, 05:00:02 PM
There’s always been something a bit weird about the reaction involved in those scenarios…

I think a ”girl” with an older man is generally seen as being a bit creepy, whereas a “boy” with an older woman is seen as “well done, kidda”

Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: CorkingCrackBand on March 11, 2023, 05:12:34 PM
Edit to remove me being a sanctimonious prick. :)

Instead I'm an editing prick.
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: pompeyjazz on March 11, 2023, 05:50:04 PM
Shit ! And I just posted a song called "Hey Girl"  :o :o :o

The Beatles were great fans of this

You're going to lose that girl
Girl
This Boy
etc etc

I'm sure that the meanings have changed over they years though - Interesting post !
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: cowparsleyman on March 11, 2023, 06:54:23 PM
@CaliaMoko (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19928) - Now that you mention it… No idea why that is, probably a commercial undercurrent. @CorkingCrackBand (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=22974) - Brilliant lyrics.
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: cowparsleyman on March 11, 2023, 07:09:43 PM
I know real life example, my Nan married a guy 10 yrs younger…My first real couple of girlfriends were a few years old than me, i was attracted to their mature demeanour, the girls of
My age seemed to be a bit silly, they weren’t interested in chatting about spaghettification on the boundary of a black hole, i wanted to listen to her stories of life.

I think those that do hitch up with a big age gap, don’t want to hide it and would love to proclaim it from the highest roof. So maybe there’s your answer…


Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: CaliaMoko on March 11, 2023, 07:15:42 PM
Interesting responses so far!

@PaulAds (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20253) -- In that case, there are a lot of creepy songs out there (ones that have a girl and a man involved in some kind of romantic idea). I can't think of any that have a boy and a woman as any kind of couple, real or imagined. Of course, there could be and I'm not aware.

@CorkingCrackBand (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=22974) -- Well, I was being cranky at best, so...

@pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) -- "This Boy" is okay because it's a girl and a boy, equal level, not one adult and one child. Another one that's okay is "Young Girl" (Gary Puckett & the Union Gap) because, in that case, it's used deliberately because she IS too young.

@cowparsleyman (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=21308) -- It's a big topic. Basically, the term "girl" diminishes the "adultness" of women. We're so used to it, we generally don't notice. Except for people like me for whom it is annoying and frustrating (I try not to take it out on anyone in particular, but I'm not in a good mood these days, so it could happen...in which case, it's my fault, not anyone else's, so try to ignore it.) 

And I just noticed you wrote more...and...if I did that (hitched up with someone younger), I think I'd go for 20 years--and in very good health--so he could easily take care of me, AND I'd be less likely to go through losing another one.
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: MichaelA on March 11, 2023, 07:17:35 PM
Shit ! And I just posted a song called "Hey Girl"  :o :o :o


I'm sure that the meanings have changed over they years though - Interesting post !

At least it wasn’t ‘Young Girl’  😳….and what about Ringo, which I always thought was creepy even as a teenager myself: ‘You’re sixteen, you’re beautiful and you’re mine!’ (Shudder!)

Mind, in Liverpool women of all ages might refer to each other as ‘girl’. And my wife definitely goes out with the ‘girls’, so it’s not necessary off limits, depending on the intention.

Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: CaliaMoko on March 11, 2023, 07:23:21 PM
Yeah, @MichaelA (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=21274) there are instances in which it's on an equal level--as men go out with "the boys", too. Gaming, snowmobiling....
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: pompeyjazz on March 11, 2023, 07:26:13 PM
@CaliaMoko (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19928) The Bobby Goldsboro song Summer (The first time) is about a young guy having a relationship with an older woman
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: CaliaMoko on March 11, 2023, 07:27:30 PM
@pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) -- Oh, that's right! It was so long ago, I forgot all about it. There are likely others, as well.
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: cowparsleyman on March 11, 2023, 07:31:48 PM
@CaliaMoko (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19928) - good call V go on a cruise ship, I’ve heard the entire passenger list is one or the other. 

Oh yeah, get someone who is hard of hearing so when you play my so gs to him he thinks they’re good  8)
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: CorkingCrackBand on March 11, 2023, 08:02:31 PM
Well, I was being cranky at best, so...



Not at all. I think/presume I came out batting in your corner. Its just I cant' do sincere without being sanctimonious. It's a character flaw that psychotherapist's are gagging to diagnose in me. I have no desire to upset anyone here so thought it best to keep mum.  :)

CCB
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: CaliaMoko on March 11, 2023, 09:04:11 PM
@cowparsleyman (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=21308) --  ;D I'm ROTFL. Not really. That would hurt....!
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: CaliaMoko on March 11, 2023, 09:06:01 PM
@CorkingCrackBand (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=22974) --  :-X   ;)
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: adamfarr on March 12, 2023, 08:10:50 AM
I always thought Maggie May was a little creepy (I really should be back at school etc.)

On a properly sanctimonious tangent, I have taken the conscious decision never to use gender in songs about relationships. I try to make them as universal as i can and not centered on any particular situation and anyway why would I exclude anyone with a different sex life from mine? Perhaps it makes them vaguer and less relatable to some but perhaps it allows more people to relate, who knows.
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: Kafla on March 12, 2023, 08:59:05 AM
Girl, you'll be a woman soon
Please, come take my hand
Girl, you'll be a woman soon
Soon, you'll need a man

😲😲😲😲
Title: Re: Girl vs Woman, Boy vs Man ??
Post by: PaulyX on March 15, 2023, 07:13:51 AM
I reckon your ire is justified Vicki… there are some real cringe examples that haven’t aged well.
Been wracking my brains to find examples the other way round… all I’ve really got is Sinitta’s ‘Toy Boy’ 😂. I thought S&G’s ‘Mrs Robinson’ might be one too but actually  having reread the lyrics I think that nuance probably all comes from the movie it was in ‘The Graduate’.