Luke Bryan's infatuation with his truck goes above and beyond in "That's my Kind of Night". I would even call it a truck fetish. In this song Luke Bryan sings about his ideal fantasy night and of course his truck is extremely involved. In this song the descriptions of his truck always come before mentioning his ladies. The first verse of the song details his "big, black, jacked up truck" then he goes on to mention here is a pretty girl by his side. This is a common theme in the song. I find it funny but there is as much of a male gaze on the truck as there is with the women in this song. They pan the truck up and down, give random shots of its tires and tailgate all the while Luke Bryan does not leave the bed of his truck.
Speaking of male gaze this music video (and lyrics) have a strong prominence. Through the entirety of the music video there are constantly shots of women and groups of women in bikini tops, daisy duke shorts and boots. The majority of the shots of the women are from their neck down showing off their bare bikini torsos and legs, these shots are of the women dancing in groups, playing in the river or taking off their tops to get in to the water. The second verse in the song is what any man would want to say to a woman in their truck "you got that sun tan skirt and boots. Waiting on you to look my way and scoot your little hot self over here, girl hand me another beer, yeah!" In this song Luke Bryan even sings phrases that most men wish they could say to women, a.k.a., "lay you down and love you right" as well as "make it rain".
Voyerism plays a strong role in this music video. Luke Bryan is never seen with any of the women but rather watching them from his truck. At one point in the video he even shines a spot light on the ladies in the water. He safely watches the women dance and strip from the comfort of his own truck.
I must say that this is a very catchy song and I really enjoy Luke Bryan's songs but to watch this video from a psychoanalytic lens is very interesting. I recommend doing the same!
I really enjoyed reading this post and watching the video. I am a huge Luke Bryan fan and listen to all his songs. I have never thought or looked at his songs with a psychoanalytic lens but after watching this video and closely listening to the words I can definitely see where you are coming from. I actually attended his concert earlier this semester at Fiddler's Green in Centennial and the male gaze was very prominent while he was on stage. His performance for most of songs were based around the idea of women and how they look and how women perceive him. He was dancing on stage and being somewhat "risque" so that the females in the audience would pay closer attention. I a huge country music fan and many male country artists have the same type of style. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteIf you really think about it so many songs display a smiliar "fetish" as this Luke Bryan song. If you look at any genre of music, material objects, drugs, women, drinks, and sex are all objectified, and some people do not even realize it. Voyerism is constant throughout the entire music video, and even in the lyrics it can be recognized. He watches the "pretty girl by his side" as if she is a piece of meat. The objectivication of women in this text is so apparent yet so many women love this song and love Luke Bryan. Is it because media texts like this have desensitized us to issues? Or do we really not care....
ReplyDeleteAugmenting Jordan's comment, it think that music in general displays a strong sense of "fetishism". However, I will not limit this idea to music in general. Music is one of the strongest and most potent embodiments of culture today, and the same thing can be found across all genres of music. From country to rap to Broadway to pop. Also, as time and culture progresses, I think that the above ideas that you brought up in your analysis grow with them.
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