Sixteen songs better than Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl"

This is the bit where I confess that I don't listen to, like, any women at all, isn't it? I grew up identified with the male rocker, so I just twist those songs, like for example Bruce Springsteen's "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" ("Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor/closets are for hangers, winners use the door") or Billy Joel's "Only The Good Die Young" (yes, "come out" is a useful pair of words.) With that standard, Tori Amos's cover of "I'm On Fire" is the closest I can get.

I'm kind of surprised I even recognized any of yours there ("Romeo and Juliet" will always be an Indigo Girls song to me. So will "Tangled Up In Blue." And my Holly Near song of choice is "Perfect Night.")

I've got -- I often think Suzanne Vega, but I can't think of any song names. Uhhh... "ultimate hyphen" Claudia Christian broke my mind recently with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeP7c0QaokY

Does that count? No? Thought not. So far as entertainment goes, I'm a very bad lesbian indeed. :-( [insert cheesy pickup line here]

--

No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always boom tomorrow.
--Susan Ivanova tells it like it is

Nini Camps, Slide  You can hear it here:  www.myspace.com/ninicamps

Hey child, has anyone made you happy, cause

I see the way you’re lookin’ at me and

I wanna know maybe if it’s my turn to

Hey child, there’s somethin’ that I wanna show you, but

You’re gonna have to come on over, and

Share some of your skin with me, cause

Well I will make you move, the way you never have moved before

I will make you shake, the way you never have shook before

I’ll make you fly so high, you ain’t never gonna want to touch the ground no more

Hey child, you ever been held so tightly, that

Your body will tremble slightly, but

The last thing you want is to be let go

Well I will make you move, the way you never have moved before

I will make you shake, the way you never have shook before

I’ll make you fly so high, you ain’t never gonna want to touch the ground no more

Tremble baby

Tremble nice

Tremble baby

Hold on your gonna kiss the sky

Well I will make you move, the way you never have moved before

I will make you shake, the way you never have shook before

I’ll make you fly so high, you ain’t never gonna want to

Well, I will make you move, the way you never have moved before

I’ll make you shake, the way you never have shook before

I’ll make you fly so hight, you ain’t never gonna want to touch the ground no more

www.ninicamps.com          

Lisa

“I Kissed a Girl” — Jill Sobule.

and

“Radical” — Catie Curtis.

Yes and Yes.

That is all.

what about dar williams? "iowa" for one...

and while "drive" is classic, id have to go with some other m ferrick songs. "one night stand" is awesome - and totally reminds me of what it's like hooking up with straight girls...

above all, though, id say "both hands" takes the cake. is there a song that is more sexy / sad all at the same time??? didnt think so.

Somewhere, some woman has covered "Good Vibrations," yes? THAT COVER. Lesbian-est thing ever.

--

No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always boom tomorrow.
--Susan Ivanova tells it like it is

From Blondie:

Deborah Harry 

"Pretty Baby"

Stars live in the evening
But the very young need the sun, uh-huh
Pretty baby, you look so heavenly
A neo-nebular from under the sun
I was forming, some say I had my chance
The boys were falling like an avalanche

Ya ya baby
La Dolce Vita is a magic dance
No-one was listening
Pretty baby, un petite ingenue
A teenage starlet, I fell in love with you

You, you with the comb
You look OK in every way (every way)
Ah, I should have known
You'd look at me and look away (and look away - oh)

Pretty baby, you look so heavenly
A neo-nebular from under the sun
Eyes that tell me incense and peppermints
Your looks are larger than life, long live innocence
Petite ingenue, I fell in love with you
Pretty baby, I fell in love with you, whoah oh
Pretty baby, oh oh
Pretty baby, whoah oh, I fell in love with you

AND 

"Sunday Girl"

I know a girl from a lonely street
Cold as ice cream but still as sweet
Dry your eyes Sunday girl
Hey, I saw your guy with a different girl
Looks like he's in another world
Run and hide Sunday girl

Hurry up, hurry up and wait
I say awake all week and still I wait
I got the blues, please come see
What your loving means to me

She can't catch up with the working crowd
The weekend mood and she's feeling proud
Live in dreams Sunday girl

Baby, I would like to go out tonight
If I go with you my folks'll get uptight
Stay at home Sunday girl

Hey, I saw your guy with a different girl
Looks like he's in another world
Run and hide Sunday girl

When I saw you again in the summertime
If your love was as sweet as mine
I could be Sunday's girl

Hurry up, hurry up and wait
I say awake all week and still I wait
I got the blues, please come see
What your loving means to me

I got the blues 

(Based on the old poem)

Deborah Harry in suit and tie.  Hottest video ever? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obwanhb6kww

Deborah Harry flirting with her front row fans 29 years ago.  SOOOO much hotter than Katy Perry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSq9wvgFkuU 

Anything by Phranc - "Amazons," "M-A-R-T-I-N-A"

Luscious Jackson - "Ladyfingers"

Suzanne Vega - "Stockings"
Do you know where friendship ends
and passion does begin?
It's between the binding of
her stockings and her skin.

I saw Suzanne Vega perform "Stockings" live, and she really played it up.

This next one's not overtly gay, but these are the lyrics I came out to ~

Sarah McLachlan - "Elsewhere"
Mother can't you see I've got
to live my life the way I feel is right for me
might not be right for you but it's right for me...
I believe...
I believe
this is heaven to no one else but me
and I'll defend it as long as
I can be left here to linger in silence
if I choose to
would you try to understand it

There are also a lot of "men's" songs covered by women without changing the lyrics.

Joan Osborne - "Brick House"
She's a brick house
She's mighty mighty just lettin' it all hang out
A brick house
The lady's stacked and that's a fact
I ain't holding nothing back

Joan Osborne - "Spooky"
I get confused, 'cause I don't know where I stand,
And then you smile, and hold my hand.
Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you.

Melissa Etheridge - "Maggie Mae"

Chantal Kreviazuk - "Always a Woman"

Tori Amos - "Angie"

Indigo Girls - "Tangled Up in Blue"

Sheryl Crow - "Squeeze Box"
Just to hear Sheryl singing, "She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out." It's almost good as all those sounds she makes when singing Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er."

Alanis Morissette - "King of Pain"

Indigo Girls & Ani DiFranco - "Ramblin' Round"

Ani DiFranco & Aimee Mann - "When Doves Cry"

And the most lesbian song ever - leave it to Meg Christian to combine relationships and politics.

Meg Christian - "Look Within"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1hYobrNI4g

Favorite lines:

I'm waiting for the revolution
For the President to have a spiritual transfusion
I'm looking for the holy ghost
And for you to say you love me the most
...
I'm waiting for my shell to crack
For Mother Nature to take all her Adam's back
...
I'm waiting for the mad hatter
For Jerry Falwell's head on a silver platter
I'm waiting for an end to war
And for The Millionaire to knock on my door
...
And I'm waiting for you to get your s**t together

Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover - Sophie B. Hawkins

Les Femmes - Yelle

maybe I'm just a big ol' Buffy geek but... Under Your Spell - Amber Benson

I haven't heard a lot of the songs mentioned, but I do like Romeo and Juliet and I Kissed a Girl (Sobule of course). And Tegan and Sara and Ani DiFranco are always winners in my book.

Elle me regardait, je suis sous le charme...

"Happy And Bleeding"

she burst dropped off picked the fruit and realize i'm naked too so cover my body dress it fine hide my linen and lace been sewing ever since time began but more than the hills more than the trees more than the mountains-you more than i can see in front of me more than the mountains-you -fruit flower myself inside-out i'm happy and bleeding for you fruit flower myself inside-out i'm tired and i'm bleeding for you this fruit was bruised dropped off and blue out of season happy and bleeding long overdue too early and it's late too mind and body i would and i would not do - fruit flower myself.... fig fruit flower myself inside-out for you

Bif Naked was one of the first queer artists I ever listened to, and I remember the elation that washed over me as I heard a woman plainly singing about another woman. "Everything" is so awesome:

my mother gave me one more reason not to call you on the phone
she told me chase girls like that all your life, you will wind up alone
I guess I just would like to take you out for a cappuccino
you refuse my advances once again -- I can't hear one more "no"

I wish you would get over him
I'll change your mind about everything

when I wink at you, you always turn the other cheek
I drilled a hole in the girls' showers so that at you I could peek
I'd love to get you naked and throw you in the back of my dad's car
I hear that if I get to third base with you, it won’t be too far

I wish you would get over him
I'll change your mind about everything

as I grow older I feel better about me and myself
I swear I never, ever once wished I was anybody else
I'd like to tell you I think you should come up and see me sometime
I know that I could possibly make it the best time of your life

I wish you would get over him
I'll change your mind about everything

I have no idea who sings this song but these lines say a lot to me about the power of women.

'Stand here, stand in front of the light

stand still, so i can see your silhouette

i know, that we'll be up all night

because i'm not done looking

I'm not not done looking yet'

I was thinking, when I saw the list that I hoped it had Ma Rainey, she grew up in the same town as me, which has always been super conservative and I just think she is soo cool for being out back in those times. But I wanted to add that she had a lesbian sex party that the cops raided once, and when she was running away, she fell down a flight of stairs completely naked! She was arrested and her friend, another famous blues singer, bailed her out, and all was well.

Oh don't forget the Murmurs- Genius. Its such a super cute song! Don't we all love those kind of freaky girls from time to time.

Nina Storey's "Woman" will send chills down your spine. It really should be on your list.

Most definitely THE HOMO SONG BY MARA LEVI

http://www.myspace.com/maralevi

Dear old Mrs. So and So,
I thought I'd call and let you know
Your daughter is a big HOMO
And she's lying next to me

She came here of her own volition
No doubt wasting her tuition
Still it's true and now you're wishin'
She weren't here with me

She's been acting out this way
Since long before the fateful day
I brought her home so she could stay
Lying next to me

No matter how you sulk and fret
It's only girls that make her wet
And since it's true, well you can bet
She's lying next to me

Dear old Mr.. So and So,
I thought I'd call and let you know
Your daughter is a big HOMO
And she's lying next to me

She loves you still, she always will
But you can't fix her with a pill
Or try to take away the thrill
Of lying next to me

She wants your love and your respect
But if you push, she'll push right back
'Cause she's got friends and you've got JACK
If you don't let her be

For the apple of your eye
There must be something you can try
'Cause I can't stand to see her cry
Lying next to me

Dear old Mrs. So and So,
Just call her up and let her know
She can be a big HOMO
And you'll still love her so.

Two funny songs about kissing girls are Girls Who Like Girls by Bob and Tom and I Wish I Was a Lesbian by Loudon Wainwright III. The Youtube videos below use them in Kim Possible fan videos:

I Wish I Was a Lesbian - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCuW_JNrkqo

Girls Who Like Girls - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvQxmLeoaSQ

"Catherine" by PJ Harvey (on "Is this desire" album).

I think she pretends to be a man during the song, because she sings with a very low voice.

Catherine De Barra
You've murdered my thinking
I gave you my heart
You left the thing stinking
I'd shake from your spell
If it weren't for my drinking
The wind bites more bitter
With each light of morning

I envy the road
The ground you tread under
I envy the wind
Your hair riding over
I envy the pillow
Your head rests and slumbers
I envy to murderous
Envy your lover

'Til the light shines on me
I damn to hell every second you breath
'Til the light shines on me
I damn to hell every second you breath

I envy the road
The ground you tread under
I envy the wind
Your hair riding over
I envy the pillow
Your head rests and slumbers
I envy to murderous
Envy your lover

'Til the light shines on me
I damn to hell every second you breath
'Til the light shines on me
I damn to hell every second you breath

For your eyes smiling
For your mouth singing
With time I'd have won you
Oh my Catherine
With time I'd have won you
With wile I'd have won you

*****    *****     ***** 

Taking off - the novel, coming soon. Starring Katie, a lesbian in London...

In the meanwhile, you can read reviews of films and books with lesbian/bi characters and/or taking place in London at www.takingoff.org

Ok.. first: there's a veeeeeeery good article on lesbian themed music on eurOut.com...please visit this link for the article and some YT music vids!

I pinched one of the songs suggested on teh article and post it on here:

Dicke Weiber und Roulette by Zweitfrau

The video speaks volumes in terms of imagery! (just watch the first seconds, and you know what I mean)

The lyrics too:

..Ich geh als Mädchen mit Mädchen ins Bett...

..Und denk an schicke Weiber, dicke Weiber und Roulette...

(which roughly translates as:)

...as a girl I sleep with girls...

...and think about sophisticated girls, big girls and roulette...

--------------------------------------------------------------------

frosch411 online   Voogle

Meshell Ndegeocello's album - Bitter is INCREDIBLE.  One of the few songs that doesn't totally break my heart is the track called "Beautiful"  I remember waking up the morning after. She was my first. I turned over and I saw her back and her waist.  Couldn't get this song out my head.

:)

"Be who you are and say what you feel,
because those who mind don't matter
and those who matter don't mind."    ~Dr. Seuss

Back in the 1970s when I first came out there was a woman named Anita Bryant, a spokesperson for Florida orange juice, who went on an anti-gay campaign of her own devising.  Olivia Records, whose artist roster included many of the artists on this list, put out a compilation album called "Lesbian Concentrate" as sort of a spoof on Ms. Bryant's orange juice endorsement.

My friends and I had our first exposure to music actually written, recorded and sung to US in this album.  Meg Christian, Cris Williamson, Teresa Trull, Holly Near et al. became our icons, OUR artists.  It made me very happy and nostalgic to see them included in this list.

I'd also add "I Want You" from Melissa Etheridge's first album (in fact, I'd replace "Yes I Am" with this track) to your list.  All the quaking, maddening passion in that song still gets to me the same way as it did over two decades ago when I first saw her perform it live.  I heard Melissa Ferrick's "Drive" for the first time yesterday and it effected me the same way.

Thank God for women who make music for other women!

"Never explain, never complain." - Katherine Hepburn

I heart Romeo & Juliet by the Indigo Girls :)

Go here for my view on all things lesbian: http://allthingslesbeau.blogspot.com

Patti Smith's cover of Gloria? Joan Jett's cover of Crimson and Clover? Rawr. 

"Most Lesbians are deliberate cowards. Usually they're too lazy or too full of themselves to go out and get themselves a man." (The Shadowy Sex, Hilary Hilton)

'My Best Friend'. Listen to it; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJU1bbBC3g8

Seriously, just listen to it!

Lots of good tunes here (especially M. Ndegeocello!), but I'm always surprised there's not more Doria love on AfterEllen.  Hard to pick one thing of hers, but in terms of out-and-proudness, I've gotta go with "Iguana":

    This is my direction, this is my choice

    It’s a one-man insurrection, this is my voice.

Andb one of the best lines ever, which just has to be heard live to fully appreciate:

    I’m a pissed off rock'n'roll, dyke-ni**er-b**ch

    so I think you’d better start running.

Not a lesbian song as such but you should check out Black is the Colour by Cara Dillon.

"Black is the colour of my true love's hair. Her lips are like a rose so fair..." etc.

It might be an existing folk song and she hasn't changed the pronouns and/or it may have been written by a man but I don't really care when I'm listening to it. Its a gorgeous song.

And btw, where on earth can I get a copy of Sheryl Crow's Squeeze Box? I saw her perform it on a UK chat show years ago and loved it but I don't think its ever been released.

but also funny as heck:

Melissa Ferrick - "I'm A Lesbian"

"I'm not gonna teach your bf how to dance wit you"? something. Idk if its really a "lesbian" song, but its like "you are the girl that I've been dreamin of ever since I was a little girl" lol

 -<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>

"The first duty of a man is to think for himself"

Jose Marti