Whoever said that men have it easier compared to women are just silly and not to mention, WRONG. Men have a lot of expectations to live up to. Not only we have to act in certain ways and take control of numerous things, but the worst part is we are not allowed to be sensitive and show any signs of weakness. We are supposed to be these bundles of steel that do not carry any emotions.

But this is 2009 and things should start to change by now. I am not ashamed to say that I have cried in public once when I was rejected from a job that I desperately wanted to have. I have no regret about the tears because it was really just a spur of the moment and it showed just how much I am a human being with genuine feelings. An ‘alpha-male’ friend of mine told me that the loss of a love one, pain and failures are among unavoidable circumstances when tears are allowed for men. But I told him that he forgot one of the most emotionally-draining events of our lives, it’s the breakup. He went on to say that “in the event of breakup, men are not only allowed to weep, we should even have a set of new playlist on our iPods to cry to”. I didn’t roll my eyes at him or anything. But coming from him, that was quite a surprise. So I decided to go out and ask all the other alpha- male population in my circle about their greatest breakup songs of all time. I managed to compile the top five songs from their surprisingly long list of breakup anthems.

1. Burn by Usher (2004) – This is one example of song about having a second thought over a break up. The line at the beginning of the song, ‘But you know that it’s over let it burn’ is about accepting the breakup and let go of the memories. But towards the end, the whole idea of being strong and moving on suddenly changed as Usher felt like he was making a huge mistake and sang ‘It’s been fifty-eleven days, umpteen hours, I’m gonna be burnin’ till you return’. Ouch!
2. Doin’ Just Fine/ End of The Road by Boyz II Men (1997/1992) – It’s a tie between these two songs. But the weird thing is these two songs were written from two contrasting point of view about breakup. ‘Doin’ Just Fine’ is about accepting it as it is. Boyz II Men sang about moving on and trying to be fine with it. ‘End of The Road’ on the other hand is a ‘come back to me song’ and the reminiscence of how wonderful the relationship used to be. I have a friend in college who listened to these songs at least three times before he went to bed every night post-breakup. We were college roommates so I had no choice but to sing along…
3. I Will Survive by Cake (1998) – This song is obviously the remake of the disco anthem by Gloria Gaynor. Most of the male populations prefer this rocked up version because it is more current and less cheesy than the original. Instead of shouting ‘I will survive” at the top of our lungs, this song demonstrates how we can make our point but at the same time appear like we don’t really give a shit.
4. Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake (2002) – Although it was written by Timberlake after his much publicized breakup with Spears, a lot of us can relate to this song because it has a little bit of edge to it. ‘Cry Me A River’ tells the story of infidelity in relationship and how much mess it created. It’s bitter and I guess everybody who has to go through the same situation is entitled to feel that way.
5. Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac (1976) – The title might be a little misleading. One cannot aspect lyrics like “Packing up, shacking up is all you want to do” to come out of the song. This song is for those who had given everything to make things work but still ended up disappointed. So the best thing to do at the end of the day is “to go your own way”.

So go on guys, grab your Kleenex! Images from thefemaleview.com, freedigital.net