Wonderfully catchy chant along from Bay-Area punks led by Penelope Houston.īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 14. All seems well, but we find out the Great Leveler is coming (Stand up, Mimi! Stand up!).īorrow it from the Library: CD 13. Growing bored during a day at the beach with her friends (the popular kids), our narrator instead focuses on a stranger, whom she decides is named Mimi, floating in the ocean on a pink surfboard. It sounded like somebody else was talkin' Askin', "Momma what do I do?" She said, "Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy They'll be nice to you."īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 12. “She handed me a heart-shaped locket that said ‘To thine own self be true’ And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across The toe of my high-heeled shoe This one is about a young woman whose mother gives her a way out of their grueling poverty. Gentry wrote brilliant character studies wrapped up in funky country pop. "You Are The Problem Here" by First Aid KitĪnother one! Foregoing their usual folksiness, the Soderbergs get right to the point in a song about the Stanford swim team rapist.
If you can, watch the Youtube video of the Soderberg sisters performing this on the Skavlan talk show.īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 10. "Emmylou" by First Aid KitĪ beautiful song about Emmylou Harris and June Carter Cash. It always makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.īorrow it from the Library: CD 9.
The vocals on this ghost story song just swell like the sea Jackie gets lost on. And if you’ve ever heard it, it’s probably stuck in yours now.īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 8. Not a day goes by when I don’t have the hook from this song stuck in my head. And that first “Whooo”? Just great.īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 7. It’s got a great first line.įrom the Ghost Rider sample to the laconic delivery, this whole thing just grooves. "This Kind Of Love" by Meg Hentgesįormerly a member of folky group Two Nice Girls, Hentges went full-on power-pop with "This Kind Of Love," a song about growing up gay in the Midwest. I love how her voice cracks every time she sings the word “times” on this song.īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 5. Her career was way too short and she doesn’t get enough recognition today.
"Germ Free Adolescents" by X-Ray SpexĪ song about OCD written by X-Ray Spex’s Poly Styrene (Mari Elliott). "Never Say Never" by Romeo VoidĪ driving drumbeat punctuates singer Debora Iyall’s cool vocals, with lyrics about a member of the band who Debora didn’t like all that much, but maybe could grow to.īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 4. Simone had been playing this traditional song since she was a child.īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 3. Ten minutes of hypnotic piano and intense vocals, Ms. The Wilson sisters lead the best band to ever come out of Seattle, Washington (Sorry Death Cab and Queensryche)!īorrow it from the Library: CD | Digital 2. As always, the tracks are in no particular order. In honor of Women’s History Month, here are a few tracks by women, both solo and in bands, that inspire me. Favorite Songs By Women Posted over 3 years ago by Tim P