The best manly wisdom ever sung in falsetto: The Most Masculine Oldies Music

Image from 45vinylvidivici.net

Never thought of “Walk Like A Man” by The Four Seasons as anything but lame-o. But this awesome post in the website Return Of Kings made me reassess my entire value system. The author, Tuthmosis, writes:

Besides being an absolute gem of 1960s rock, it contains some of the hardest-hitting, no-nonsense manly wisdom ever sung in a falsetto voice. A son, frustrated with his absolute-bitch-of-a-girlfriend, turns to his father for advice.

But my good father
Said, “Give her up, don’t bother
The world isn’t coming to an end”

He said it:

Walk like a man
Talk like a man
Walk like a man, my son

No woman’s worth
Crawling on the earth
So walk like a man, my son

Like every other era of music, the catalog of so-called Golden Oldies (music from the 1950s and 60s) is jam-packed with milquetoast love songs (though admittedly at a time when that fantasy was probably more true than it is today). Despite this, you’ll find some loud proclamations of alpha-male commandments hidden among them if you pay attention.

I part company with Tuthmosis on his affection and praise for the song “If You Wanna Be Happy” by Jimmy Soul. (Sorry, but that song is indefensible. Try as you might, dude, you just can’t polish that turd.) Otherwise the entire write-up is spot on, particularly in light of the wimpery of current pop music (*cough* – Justin Bieber – *cough*).

With the exception of a select group of rappers –  who are quick to remind us to “F*ck Bitches, Get Money” and that “Bitches Ain’t Sh*t” – a significant percentage of music today is so nauseatingly beta (i.e., wimpy) that you have to flat-out ignore the lyrics. And, truth be told, most oldies weren’t much better. So, the next time you need a break from all that noise, remember your masculine oldies.