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...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh mickey your so fine, your so fine you blow my mind, hey mickey

Callum82 said...

"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?

Anonymous said...

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.

Callum82 said...

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.

Anonymous said...

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

Callum82 said...

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!!!

Anonymous said...

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