Carrie Underwood - “All American Girl”

Jim,

My main problem with the song is the way the lyrics are almost secondary to the melody and the chorus. It’s as if they were just trying to find a way to get to that big chorus. I mean, we go from birth to the girl being 16 and dating pretty darn quick. Forget about her relationship with her Dad. Forget about the qualities which might make this girl interesting or unique on her own - she’s dating the football captain! And once he’s introduced the song is all about HIM and how HE feels, how HE performs. And then it’s straight from high school to havin’ babies! Our “All-American Girl” hardly makes a cameo in this song; she’s a secondary character. She’s not empowered at all.

Not sure I’m totally on board with the particular gender bias issue you raise, though the whole blue/pink dichotomy did make me feel as if we lived in an past era where no one knew the sex of their kids beforehand and “surprises” like this were both easily avoidable and able to be processed by parents wishing for a child of another sex before the child was actually born.

I like Carrie; I think she’s very talented. But this song makes think she and her team ought to listen to “She” by Shania Twain or other songs which depict the myriad of ways women impact our lives positively.

I’m with Ben J. Using this many words to analyze and dissect an Underwood tune is like the New England Journal of Medicine writing an article on why teenagers hate acne, or when sports illustrated has a feature on women’s athletics (I thought you’d like that Jim)….a big ol’ waste of words.

But isn’t Country songwriting something we ought to be critiquing as well? We know there are “big ol’ dumb hits” in every genre, but I figured The 9513 was one place where the art and craft of songwriting was taken slightly more seriously, that we are concerned with Country music as an art form as much as a form of entertainment, and there’s room enough to weigh songs based on both criteria. So Jim - keep it up!

From that first verse, I can’t help but wondering why the daddy is disappointed he fathered a girl instead of a boy (no doubt he is). She won’t be as interesting? That’s the inference. Who wrote this damned song, anyway? Carrie, who made you record it?

Ok, there are way too many heavy-handed analogies in the comments.

My eyes glaze over whenever someone starts talking about “gender roles” so I’m not really going to engage you on the particulars of the critique but I think that you’re way off base here. For one thing, this song is presenting a valid perspective, unless you’re questioning the existence of fathers who want sons and pretty high school school cheerleaders who date the quarterback. The fact that’s it’s not your perspective is not legitimate grounds for critiquing the lyric. I believe infidelity is morally wrong but I’d probably be the first on The 9513 staff to give the thumbs up to a good cheatin’ song.

Slow down there. The only CRIME here is that soccer moms all over middle america are going to eat this up like a shoneys breakfast buffet. For you to equate a new father being bummed at having a girl instead of a boy, and that girl having the realistic and understandable goal of being a supportive, doting quarterbacks girlfriend to crimes of violence, hate and racism is incredibly reckless and irresponsible. By “supporting” this song, all one is doing is being lame, not hateful or anti-feminist.One’s perspective is completely relevent, as it creates our lists of likes and dislikes, most loved and most hated. Your perspective is what made you decide that this song was sending a backwards and ignorant message.

Jim, I am crazy high on cough medicine, so its entirely likely that I misinterpreted your comment, so I apologize. I do not disagree with you on the idea that girls should not be forced and pressured into being feminine, but it isnt a crime was my only point.

Where’s GARTHMANFAN? We need a new list of Garth Fun Facts to bring us all together!!!

There are some posts claiming that Carrie Underwood lyrics are not “worthy” of being analyzed or discussed. But the lyrics obviously raise important issues about gender roles. These issues arise even if the songwriters don’t see this or didn’t intend to do so, and even if the song only raises those issues in an oblique manner. It seems to me that popular culture’s representation of gender roles is worthy of analysis. Social structure is too important a matter not to think about.

A lot of posts have taken Jim Malec to task for his view about the song but I haven’t really seen a post so far that genuinely engages Malec’s argument and its assumptions and then goes on to show what is wrong (or right) with those assumptions. But it is plain as day that the father has different expectations for boys and girls and the song doesn’t challenge those views. Whether the father’s beliefs are acceptable is another matter, one worthy of serious discussion.

This is a good blog entry, and it engages in the sort of thoughtful analysis of country lyrics that should be more commonplace.

Jim, I never suggested that the sociological implications of this lyric are not worth discussing. Entire books have been written about gender identity in country music and I grant that it’s a valid topic for discussion. However, I have not read any books/articles that suggest that feminist music is good and anti-feminist music is bad, and that’s why I object strongly to your review.

I would have had no problem if you had written an editorial that said exactly what you said above. However, using the fact that a song’s message does not jive with your worldview as the sole basis for giving that song a thumbs down is not good criticism.

Furthermore, I agree with Kelly. If we consider the detestable things that songs can be and have been written about, expecting your daughter to wear frilly pink dresses is barely a blip on the radar. It certainly isn’t a serious enough moral (or ethical, if you prefer) transgression to justify abandoning any attempt to evaluate a song on its merits rather than its political correctness.

Some are saying that the moral transgression in Carrie’s song is trivial compared to other things often discussed in songs. But is that so obvious? If we describe the moral transgression as “expecting your daughter to wear frilly pink dresses,” then it seems extremely trivial. But if we describe it as “expecting your daughter to conform to oppressive gender roles” then it sounds at least as bad as going out drinking too much or having an affair.

Sure, the merits of gender roles are worth discussing, but it can’t be argued definitively that one particular viewpoint is right and all others are wrong, therefore, the rating shouldn’t merely be a reflection of one’s stance on the issue.

I didn’t think about any of the issues you raised when I heard this song. It’s a testament to how well this review is written that it made me think of the song in a new light.

Actually Ben, this is her song. She co-wrote it.

Inspiration for the femme fatale verse?

Doesn’t calling Trisha Yearwood Mrs. Garth Brooks reinforce the same male/female power relationships that you railed against in the review?

I should clarify… What I meant in my above post was that the songwriters getting cuts like “All American Girl” are not a dime a dozen.

There are a ton of reasons why I don’t like this song, not the least of which is the mind numbing use of recoloration (when the chorus is the same but the meaning has changed). I know this is a standard tool, but with this song it particularly annoyed me.

I’ll agree with Jim on this one in saying that a song’s message is a viable reason for giving the thumbs up or thumbs down.

Personally, I think that country songs are supposed to tell the truth about the human experience, therefore, songs that lie to us about the human experience are bad country songs and I’d put this song into that category. It lies about what it is to be a father. It lies about what it is to be a daughter. It lies about what it is to be a female. It lies about what it is to be an “All-American Girl”.

Like Jim said “this piece of poetry shamelessly reinforces stereotypical gender roles and male/female power relationships”

well done Jim.

p.s - can we call you a commie too? The communists were all about dissolving gender roles…ya commie.

Wow… I have never commented before on this site, but I feel compelled to now. It is interesting to see different viewpoints on a song, but I feel that this song is being taken a bit too seriously. Carrie helped co-write this song and said she was writing from the viewpoint of being the youngest of three daughters. Her parents may have been hoping for a son since they already had 2 other daughters. I think that is quite common. I know a lot of people who have 2 boys and want a little girl or vice versa. That doesn’t mean that you aren’t happy when that new baby arrives no matter what the gender. Carrie has said that she was a tomboy and went fishing with her dad and he took her hunting. Obviously, he loved her no matter what her gender. That is what the song is trying to convey in my opinion. I really believe Carrie is going to continue to grow as a singer and songwriter as she gains more experience. You have to remember she is really still very new at all of this. Sometimes it doesn’t seem that way because of all the success and awards she has received. I am very optimistic about future albums and songs. I think in some ways she is still trying to find herself. She has a powerful voice and she will learn when less is more. I think her producer had a big influence on Carnival Ride. Carrie has said that he would push her to sing higher. She said that she realizes that just because you can doesn’t mean you should. That is an encouraging sign to me. I would like to see her branch out and use other producers in the future, but Carrie is very loyal and I am not sure she would want to do that.

OK, so I heard this for the first time yesterday because I do not go out of my way to listen to her music….but OMG….what an awful song, what was she thinking??? But then again I question if she is ever thinking when she records a song…but that is my opinion…

Kenny Chesney already did this song. It’s called “There Goes My Life.” Guy doesn’t want a baby, then she’s born, he falls in love and all that.

I personally love the song and dont find a thing wrong with it

Have any of you seen the video? It puts out your sexist argument, I think.

i really disagree i love this song and i think that its a thumbs up!!

You clearly misinterpeted the song. At first it shows the father thinking that only his son could do those things but later on its supposed to be him realizing that he could do those things with her too. All american girl means that this girl could do anything she puts her mind to. Have you seen the video, with Carrie dressed as a college student, a doctor, even a astronaut. This is to show that a girl could be anything she wants to be.

I’m not sure how anyone could get past the first two lines as they are performed in the song to listen to the rest of the song. Possibly the worst written and/or performed song in the last year. Absolutely dreadful

but she is referring to an american girl..and an ordinary american girl wont love to fish to play football..etc..and an ordinary american boy will truly like that..she is talking in general..