Thursday, November 24, 2005
Pop Music Observation #1
So I was talking to a friend today about The Beach Boys song Help Me Rhonda, which he had thought for years was Help Me Ronya, and something struck me (well, not anything in this physical world that is): I could not think of any female singer who referenced a boyfriend's name in a love song. I mean, come on, think about it, there are hundreds (actually I suppose its more like thousands if we are talking about published songs and I know if we go into the amateur world we would quickly be talking millions here) of songs by and sung by men making frequent mention of their lovers' names (i.e. Rhonda, Eileen, Mary, Roxanne, Jamie, Alyson, Jessica, Gertrude, ok well maybe not Gertrude, but the list certainly goes on), but the same cannot be said for female singers. The closest I could come up with is Fernando by ABBA, but they aren't an all female vocal group (a band would count though if the guy(s) in it weren't singing, just playing instruments) and I have always imagined that song is about an unattainable love not somebody the females in the group actually had a relationship with. The question then becomes why is this so? Is it because women are just more mature than men and refrain from sharing unnecessary personal information out of consideration for their past and current partners? Or maybe they feel that would be giving the specified personage too much credit or more attention than they deserve? Who knows? Well, hopefully some of you have a guess at it and I would love to hear them. Maybe there is really something to explore here...
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7 comments:
oh mickey your so fine, your so fine you blow my mind, hey mickey
"it's guys like you mickey that make me do what i do mickey...you take me by the heart when you take me by the hand..."
-mickey by toni basil
Congratulations you have found an exception. I have to admit that I feel a bit silly I didn't remember this song as it is one of my favorite guilty pleasures from the 80s. I think it is telling though that this song is a flippant, playful tune celebrating teen crushdom. I wonder if we can find yet another exception that has a more dramatic mood to it. Random trivia: Did you know that Toni Basil was 34 years old when she donned a cheer leading outfit for her infamous music video for "Mickey" in 1982?
hmm I'll have to come up with an example. I know there is something out there, but i know guys do tend to write more about girls than guys. my take on it maybe guys feel the need to express (by action) than private words. maybe a song is a way to express it while leaving us vunrable and declaring our feelings for that person to everyone else. one of my roomates says its guys feel they need to impress, while girls ehh they don't have to they are impressive enough. i think on this song thing and post up my other roomates take at that time.
I think you are on to something when you say that men feel more often they have to directly act out to bring attention to their frustrations. It does seem pretty classic for men (though some women do this too) to make themselves feel better by emotionally belittling others that are involved (or sometimes not involved) in the situation. And by the way, most of the time I tend to agree that girls are for the most part much more impressive than men. I'm looking forward to reading your other room mate's take on it and to see if you can find any songs guilty of the parameters I set out.
Here are a few:
Chuck E's In Love - Rickie Lee Jones
Dear Jessie - Madonna
Denis - Blondie
Donnie - Ace of Base
Dream Angus - Annie Lennox
Frederick - Patty Smith
Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
Jesse - Carly Simon
Jimmy Mack - Martha and the Vandellas
Joey - Concrete Blonde
Johnny Angel - Shelly Fabares
Johnny Are You Queer? - The Go-Go's
Me and Bobbie McGee - Janis Joplin
Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brother – ABBA
Muhammad My Friend - Tori Amos
Don’t Mess With Bill - Marvelettes
If you also include songs performed by men with men's names in the title there are hundreds. I think that it may seem like there is a shortage of male "name songs" simply because music-making is still very male dominated profession and there are relatively few female performers (let alone song writers).
Anyway, I hope this will at least help with future mixtape planning!
love,
katie
Wow, I have just been owned by my apparent lack of female music knowledge. I only knew two of those songs (though obviously I didn't think of them when I wrote my orginial post) and will most definately have to check some of them out for future mixes. I agree that the biggest reason might be that men are still the dominant influence in the music biz. But let us hope that is changing, I am discouraged though that most of the songs you listed are older (80s seem well represeneted), you would think that there would be an increase in the occurence of such songs over time. Anyway, thanks for joining in on the discussion and welcome to my blog katie!!!
A Song For Richard And His Friends - Chicago
Abraham, Martin and John - Dion
Adam Raised A Cain - Bruce Springsteen
Adam's Song - blink-182
Alec Eiffel - Pixies
Alex Chilton - The Replacements
Andy, You're A Star - The Killers
Angry Johnny - Poe
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? - Waylon Jennings
Arnold Layne - Pink Floyd
Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) - Christopher Cross
Axel F - Harold Faltermeyer
Baby Elian - The Manic Street Preachers
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown - Jim Croce
Be Good Johnny - Men At Work
Ben - Michael Jackson
Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean
Billy Davy's Daughter - Stereophonics
Bob - NoFX
Bob Dylan Blues - Syd Barrett
Boogie With Stu - Led Zeppelin
Buddy Holly - Weezer
Bye Bye Johnny - Chuck Berry
C'mon Ted Just Admit It - Jane's Addiction
Captain Jack - Billy Joel
Careful With That Axe, Eugene - Pink Floyd
Casey Jones - The Grateful Dead
Charlie - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Charlie Brown - The Coasters
Chic 'N' Stu - System Of A Down
Cowboy Dan - Modest Mouse
Daniel - Elton John
Danny Boy - traditional
Don't Mess With Bill - The Marvelettes
Duke Of Earl - Gene Chandler
Elias - Dispatch
Floyd The Barber - Nirvana
Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo - The Bloodhound Gang
Frankie - Sister Sledge
Frankie And Johnny - Sam Cooke
Geno - Dexy's Midnight Runners
Happy Jack - The Who
Harry Hood - Phish
Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix
Hey, Johnny Park! - Foo Fighters
Hit The Road Jack - Ray Charles
Jack And Diane - John Mellencamp
Jack Vs. Jose - Roger Clyne And The Peacemakers
Jackie Wilson Said - Dexy's Midnight Runners
James Dean - The Eagles
Jed The Humanoid - Grandaddy
Jerry Was A Racecar Driver - Primus
Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
Jesus Of Suburbia - Green Day
Jimmy - Tool
Joe's Head - Kings Of Leon
Joey - Concrete Blonde
John Cage Bubblegum - Stereolab
John Doe No. 24 - Mary Chapin Carpenter
John Walker's Blues - Steve Earle
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
Johnny's Gonna Die - The Replacements
Jumpin' Jack Flash - The Rolling Stones
Just Like Frank Zappa - Don Imus
Justin - KoRn
Kevin Carter - The Manic Street Preachers
Kissing Willie - Jethro Tull
Kody - Matchbox Twenty
Levon - Elton John
Little James - Oasis
Lorenzo - Phil Collins
Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Luka - Suzanne Vega
Mack The Knife - Bobby Darin
Major Tom (I'm Coming Home) - Peter Schilling
Making Plans For Nigel - XTC
Martin Eden - The Twilight Singers
Matthew And Son - Cat Stevens
Maxwell's Silver Hammer - The Beatles
Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard - Paul Simon
Michael - Franz Ferdinand
Milo (Interlude) - Modest Mouse
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) - Billy Joel
Mr. Jack - System Of A Down
Mrs. Major Tom - K.I.A.
Ode To Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry
Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
One Tin Soldier (The Legend of Billy Jack) - Coven
Peter Piper - Run-DMC
Poor Tom - Led Zeppelin
Ronnie And Neil - Drive-By Truckers
Seamus - Pink Floyd
Simon - Lifehouse
Sister Ray - The Velvet Underground
So Long Jimmy - James Blunt
So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright - Simon And Garfunkel
Song To Woody - Bob Dylan
St. Jimmy - Green Day
Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price
Stan - Eminem
Steve McQueen - Sheryl Crow
Steven - Senses Fail
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues - Bob Dylan
The Ballad Of Billy The Kid - Billy Joel
The Ballad Of Curtis Loew - Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Ballad of John and Yoko - The Beatles
The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead - XTC
The Ballad Of Sal Villanueva - Taking Back Sunday
The Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) - George Harrison
The Barry Williams Show - Peter Gabriel
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill - The Beatles
The Diary Of Horace Wimp - The Electric Light Orchestra
The Ghost Of Tom Joad - Bruce Springsteen
The House That Jack Built - Metallica
The Jack - AC/DC
Timothy - The Buoys
Tom Sawyer - Rush
Tommy's Holiday Camp - The Who
Ty Cobb - Soundgarden
Uncle Albert - Admiral Halsey - Paul McCartney
Vincent - Don McLean
Walter's Walk - Led Zeppelin
What's the Frequency, Kenneth? - R.E.M.
Wild Billy's Circus Story - Bruce Springsteen
Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
You Can Call Me Al -Paul Simon
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