A cultural history of “broken-hearted men” in duet songs by Lert and Srisuda

Abstract

In this article, I analyse lyrics of the songs sung by Lert Prasomsap and Srisuda Ratchatawan of the Suntaraphorn band in 1960s. The analysis focuses on the portrayal of men and women’s relationship in the selected songs. The study’s research question is that why most of these lyrics humorously illustrated the broken-hearted men. The research methodology involves the close-reading of the song lyrics in comparison with historical data, both the primary and secondary sources, of the cultural history of Thai gender relation in the fashion of new-historicist discourse. As my reading suggests, the modernisation of gender relation in Thailand, including the popularity of monogamy and the active role of women in politics and economics; and the growth of capitalism in the urban society, that encouraged the consumerism and tourism, resulted in the proliferation of the ‘masculinity crisis’ sentiment. This notion of ‘masculinity crisis’, I argue, was the material for the Suntaraphorn’s songwriters to compose the songs that mocked the broken-hearted men for listener’s humour