Coach Jack Kammer examines research showing parents give girls more freedom in career choices than boys, and uses Supertramp's 1979 hit "The Logical Song" to explore how restricting boys' options may fuel their disengagement from adulthood. The song captures the identity crisis of forced conformity to logical, responsible expectations.
Hi, Coach Kammer here. There's pretty good research showing that parents give girls more latitude than boys in choosing their careers and life options. Could giving boys less leeway to find and embrace what they really want to do, whether it makes a lot of money or not, be one of the reasons we see so many boys losing interest in, and perhaps even rebelling against, a kind of adulthood whose terms they see as sexist and unfair? There's a song for that. Don't go away. The song you're about to hear was written by a person, a man, who had been through the sexist rigors of boyhood. And apparently a lot of men resonated with what he was saying, because in 1979 he won the award for best lyrics from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, most of whose members were also men, no doubt. As you listen, ask yourself: Does this apply to girls as much as to boys? If not, why not? The Logical Song. By Supertramp.
When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle. Oh, it was beautiful, magical, and all the birds in the trees, they'd be singing so happily. Oh joyfully, oh playfully watching me. But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible, logical, oh responsible, practical. And then they showed me a world where I could be so dependable, oh clinical, oh intellectual, cynical. There are times when All the world is steep. A question far too deep for such a simple man. Won't you please, please tell me what's the plan? I know it sounds absurd, but please tell me who I am. I said, now what would you say? They'll be calling you a radical, a liberal, or a magical criminal. Oh, won't you sign up your name? We'd like to be your acceptable, respectable, or presentable aversion. Oh, tick, tick, ticky-tack! Please tell me what to love. I know it sounds absurd, but please tell me who I am. Who I am. Who I am. Who I am.
