Bruno Mars released his second official single “When I Was Your Man” to mainstream radio stations on January 15th, 2013. The song features an emotional piano ballad with lyrics describing the heartbreak and regrets that Bruno Mars felt for letting his love get away. As the song progresses, he expresses hope that her new man will give her all the love and attention that he failed to give her. The reason that I decided to select this song for my final paper is that I believe the lyrics have true meaning and values because they describe how I have felt with most of my regretful relationships in the past.
“When I Was Your Man” was written by an amazing team made up of four talented people; the artists Bruno Mars, Andrew Wyatt, Philip Lawrence,…show more content… There are countless ways to define what a relationship essentially is, and even scholars who have devoted their careers to studying relationships don’t agree on what the term really means. However, a relationship can be narrow down to what type of a relationship it is.
When I listen carefully to “When I Was Your Man,” and analyze each word of the lyrics, it clearly indicates that there is a relationship problem known as a relational transgression. A worthy example would be the 2nd verse when Bruno Mars sings “My pride, my ego, my needs and my selfish ways caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life.” This verse simply implies that when one partner violates the explicit or implicit terms of the relationship, it is letting the other one down in some important way.
When I first heard “When I Was Your Man,” the only thing that went through my mind were regrets as I remember how some of my relationships were in the past. According to Mark Knapp’s theory, there are ten stages of a relationship. The stages are initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, bonding, differentiating, circumscribing, stagnating, avoiding, and terminating. Whenever the song gets to the part, “Oh, and it haunts me every time I close my eyes,” I can definitely remember some of these stages as they seem to haunt me each time I listen…show more content… With me being a shy person, the thought of approaching a girl that I like was harder than anything I have ever done. The best way for me to get close to that girl was to make remarks about an innocuous subject, such as the weather or making a friendly expression and hoping that she would see it. This may seem superficial and meaningless, but it is a way of signaling that I’m interested in building a relationship with her.
The next stage is without a doubt the experimenting stage. The faster that I can find a common ground and interest, the easier it will be to get to know her. Developing small talk is one of my specialties. Using Facebook or other social media sites to get to know her better was one of my strategies since I didn’t have to worry about blushing, stammering, or looking away if I had said something weird. After getting to know her a little more and working up the courage, I’ll then ask her out.
Then, as time goes on, the circumscribing stage kicks in. The communication usually decreases and the subtle hints of dissatisfaction grow more evident. Arguing about the same thing over and over seems like a natural pattern. Rather than trying to discuss what the real problem is, one or the other will usually withdraw. Eventually, the terminating stage will slowly