Change Stages and Strategies in Popular Culture Essay

Change Stages and Strategies in Popular Culture - Essay Example In the case of the jilted lover, he/she must give up his/her identity as one half of a romantic relationship, and must resume his/her identity as an individual. Sheryl Crow's song "My Favorite Mistake" presents the case of a woman who knows that her relationship with her lover is at an ending point. She tells her lover, "I woke up and called this morning. The tone of your voice was a warning that you don't care for me anymore" (Crow). She goes on to say how all of this man's friends know about his "secret lover," and they pity her for holding on the way she is (Crow). She even admits that she knows she is wrong for staying in a relationship with a man who doesn't love her. She calls him her "favorite mistake," but she concludes that she will continue to stay with him because "maybe nothin' lasts forever, even when you stay together. I don't need forever after. It's your laughter won't let me go, so I'm holding on this way" (Crow). The woman in this song is stubbornly holding on to a relationship that she knows is bad for her, and possibly even bad for her lover; however, she is not willing to accept the end of their relationship. She knows that she should let go, and she should go on with her life and let her lover go on with his so that he won't have to try to pretend he adores her, but she is hesitant to make that first step.