More songs about girls
As we quickly realised, there are a lot of songs about girls. Even without refreshing our memories, I think we could manage an A to Z. Well, if anyone wrote a song about a girl called Zoe, we could. Did anyone do that?
Sara seems to be one of the most popular names in song. Jefferson Starship’s ode to Sara, although not as good as Fleetwood Mac’s or Bob Dylan’s, was at No.1 in the USA on this day in 1986. Funnily enough, the single bombed in the UK despite being accompanied by one of the decade’s better, I thought, promo videos, complete with dogs and tumbleweed, which I’d have thought was a guarantee for success. (Tumbleweed in music video is a discussion for another day, I feel.)
The name does not have to be included in the song title, by the way, but should feature in the lyric. Not that lyrics are always needed; there have been notable instrumentals named after ladies too, don’t forget. Here’s a good one: ‘Sylvia’ by Dutch prog-rockers, Focus.
Here are a few more ladies for you to identify. I don’t believe they were mentioned when we first named, and in some cases shamed, back in July. Apologies for the repetition if they were. Please add some lines of your own to similarly bamboozle.
01. “She makes me laugh, she makes me cry
With a twinkle of her eye”
02. “So cool, she was like jazz on a summer’s day”
03. “Come over to the window, my little darling
I’d like to try to read your palm”
04. “As she turns her gaze down the slope to the harbour where I lay
Anchored for a day”
05. “We fell asleep, our goose is cooked
Our reputation is shot”
06. “Well, you came and you gave without taking
But I sent you away”
(Come on, own up if you’re thinking of Homer Simpson and turkey at this point.)
07. “I’ve been dancing in the hills at a place I know
She said, ‘And that’s the place where the fireflies glow’”
08. “She’s pretty as a daisy
But look out, man, she’s crazy”
09. “I tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down”
10. “She’s like a millionaire
Walking on imported air”
#8 is screaming out Poison Ivy to me.
Of course, someone did it. Here is Staind’s “Zoe Jane”.
You sure keep us on our toes FEd. Too much juggling today so will do in phases:
01. “She makes me laugh, she makes me cry
With a twinkle of her eye” — I Can’t Let Maggie Go – The Honeybus
02. “So cool, she was like jazz on a summer’s day” — Valerie – Steve Winwood
03. “Come over to the window, my little darling
I’d like to try to read your palm” — So Long, Marianne – Leonard Cohen (great song!)
04. “As she turns her gaze down the slope to the harbour where I lay
Anchored for a day” — Guinevere – Crosby, Stills & Nash
05. “We fell asleep, (y)our goose is cooked
Our reputation is shot” — Wake Up Little Susie [wake up!!] – The Everly Brothers
06. “Well, you came and you gave without taking
But I sent you away” — Mandy – Barry ‘Massive Nose’
07. “I’ve been dancing in the hills at a place I know
She said, ‘And that’s the place where the fireflies glow’” — Madam Helga – Stereophonics
08. “She’s pretty as a daisy
But look out, man, she’s crazy” — Poison Ivy – Coasters
09. “I tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down” — Layla – E.C.
10. “She’s like a millionaire
Walking on imported air” — Maria – Blondie
Lenny Kravitz did Flowers for Zoe.
Hmmm… Arnold Layne DRESSED like a girl. Does that count?
1.) “There is no other way
Let’s try it another day
You’ll lose your mind and play
Free games for May.”
2.) “Things are different today
I hear every mother say
Cooking fresh food for a husband is just a drag”
3.) “Dream that queen
Queen of all my dreaming.”
4.) “Everybody knows
The things she’ll do to please
Just a little tease”
5.) “All ya did was wreck my bed
And then my mommy kicked me in the head.”
6.) “Don’t question why she needs to be so free.
She’ll tell you it’s the only way to be.”
7.) “But she never lost her head
Even when she was giving head.”
8.) “Oh, she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
She’s ahead of her time
Oh, and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind.”
9.) “Half of what I say is meaningless
But I say it just to reach you.”
10.) “I wanna tell her that I love her a lot
But I gotta get a belly full of wine.”
I see an Emily, a Julia, a Ruby, Her Maj and Mother’s Little Helper.
I agree with Fed’s and I’ve got a Maggie and a Candy.
Doo do do do doo do do do doo do do do doo do do do do do do do doo.
ash
Doo do do do doo do do do doo do do do doo do do do do do do do doo.
Very funny Ash.
It makes me laugh
A Candy? No candy here. Cough syrup for me, today, home sick. But no candy.
Get well soon, Dan.
How about a Walk on the Wild Side, a Femme Fatale, and Always a Woman. And Ash was right… There IS a Candy here!!
I’m still not well, but thanks for the well-wished FEd. When I get the energy I’ll bless you for that.
Grrrrnash nash nash nash.
ash
44 names covered in one song by The Nails (and we have another “The” band to add if they weren’t already)! Not keen on the ‘official’ video – a bit tough to watch and not really my kind of vibe but here are the lyrics.
Wow. Makes me think of that ‘Mambo No.5′ tune from a few years ago.
That was a lot of fun FEd – had never heard it before!
I always loved ‘Mambo No.5′. It’s one of my guilty pleasures!
03. Leonard Cohen – So Long, Marianne
04. Crosby, Stills & Nash – Guinnevere
09. Eric Clapton – Layla
“_____ of the royal court of Arthur
Draped in white velvet, silk and lace”
“Who would be a poor man, a beggarman, a thief
If he had a rich man in his hand”
“_____ wants a cracker
I think I should get off her first”
“What’s the matter _____, you had a hard day”
Polly wants the cracker (Nirvana).
Speaking about them…
“She said
She’d take me anywhere
She’d take me anywhere
As long as she stays with me”
“It’s so relieving
To know that you’re leaving
As soon as you get paid”
Cross-eyed Mary – great track off an amazing album!
Frances Farmer.
Another line that I love: “I miss the comfort in being sad.”
Oh FEd, a very nice topic!
Now I’m searching on web about these songs.
Bye Hydrea.
Jenny, Jenny 867-5309 Tommy Tutone
Donna Richie Valens
I’ll stop there…
I wonder how many people got a call from the number?
The web is crawling with that exact question — thousands, if not hundreds of thousands no doubt!
And:
“We walked on frosted fields
Of juniper and lamplight”
“Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair”
Since turkey was mentioned, couldn’t help think of Thanksgiving:
“Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the dump saying, “Closed on Thanksgiving.”"
“For all the time spent in that room
The doll’s house, darkness, old perfume”
“Remember how she said that
We would meet again
Some sunny day?”
“And with a swing of her hips, she started to strip,
To tremendous applause she took off her drawers, …”
“ … you set the standards for me
Walk to your door
Beggin for it just to be more and”
“‘Cos emotionally you’re the same basic trip
And you know that I know of the times that you slip”
“Romeo locks his basement flat
And scurries up the stair”
“Remember all those nights we cried?
All the dreams we held so close”
“But try as hard as I might do I don’t know why
You get to me in a way I can’t describe”
“Oh say that you’ll be mine
Oh say that you’ll be mine”
Julia – The Beatles
Beth – Kiss
Mona Lisa – sung by Nat King Cole
Lola – The Kinks (don’t think it counts)
Alberta – Eric Clapton (previously referred to under Destinations)
How about B. B. King’s Lucille(s)? Granted it’s not a song but without the instrument, there is no song!
Oh, Mother, tell me more.
“Romeo locks his basement flat
And scurries up the stair”
Genesis – The Cinema Show
It’s “Vera”.
“VEEEEEEEEERRRRRRAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!” Sung in RW’s inimitable screechy whine.
Looks like there are lots and lots of ladies celebrated in song and Pavlov has mopped up F’ed’s list…
Off the top of my head, the Beatles named a fair few, Rita, Michele (bien sur), Sadie, Prudence, Lucy etc.
I am honour bound to mention Deep Purple Made in Japan which includes the charming line “her name was Nancy, her face was nothing fancy.”
Of course Radiohead don’t tend to be so personal and as recent lyrics seem to be ever more incoherent I can’t rely on them but wait, one of my big favourites from ever reliable OK Computer gives us “kill me Sarah, kill me again with love.”
And how could I resist “Julie Anne” by Kenny – “been thinkin’ about you in the sunshine, on a beach and bummin’ around” – as that happens to be my dear wife’s name.
Actually Deep Purple had another gem called “Knocking on Your Back Door” which mentions quite a few ladies being quite naughty.
Thanks.
Andrew
As I sent my previous contribution from my iPad and was not clever enough to paste in a YouTube link, here is the marvellous “Julie Anne” and a fine example of 1970′s fashions to boot. I bet F’ed still has some collars wider than his shoulders … and as for those (immodest) white trousers …
Oh and keeping it personal, I also have a dim and distant memory of singing (with the rest of the family) “Lily the Pink” outside my Grandma’s front door for reason’s lost in the mist of time (other than that her name was Lillian of course, otherwise it would have been truly random).
My Beatles recollection was indeed rather partial … I could also have mentioned Pam, Julia, Joan, Rose and Valerie (screaming from the gallery), Martha, Eleanor (for goodness sake), Madonna (cheat), Molly, Penny (cheat), Magil, Lil and Nancy (well done if you spot them!).
Widely flared trousers, too (although none are white, I have to point out).
F’ed! That link to YouTube seems to take me to a Liverpool FC website … I nearly choked on my fish-finger sandwich.
Surely this is what we needed …
My apologies, Tim. Now corrected.
Fish finger sandwich, eh? Five fingers with ketchup?
Oh no tim_c, not you too with “Lily the Pink”.
We sang it in boarding school (along with a lot of other nonsense) and it has been long-forgotten and was always a mystery to me until today. Some trivia here.
Another “the” band – The Scaffold seen singing it here. Check out those white suits!
Apology accepted F’ed although harsher judges might impose a touchline ban for such an offence …
I find that three fingers is all you need in a home-made granary roll and in this case no ketchup … I like to keep a sandwich from getting overly moist.
Granary. Like it.
I got three, Suzie, Mandy and Layla and kicked myself after looking up some of the others. You know when things are nagging at the back of your mind?
Here are a few to identify:
“Newspaper covered walls and … rising up above it all”
“and Jack behind his joker and stone cold …”
“You make me dizzy when you call my name”
“John the Baptist was a martyr but he stirred up Herod’s hate” (I suggest you listen to this one. I love it.
)
ash
Saint of Me is AWESOME! Always loved the name Salomé. I had misguided wishes to have Aubrey Beardsley’s woodcut of The Climax that he did for Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, tattooed on my back – thankfully I never had the guts to go through with it.
That’s gotta hurt.
“Long Tall Sally”–Little Richard. “Lucille”–Little Richard. “Hello Mary Lou”–Ricky Nelson. “Peggy Sue”–Buddy Holly. “Joanna”–Kool and the Gang. “Billie Jean”–Michael Jackson. “Angel Eyes”–Jeff Healey Band. “Jessica”–The Allman Bros. “Melissa”-The Allman Bros. “Mexican Blackbird”–ZZTop. “Beth”–KISS. “Laura”–Christopher Cross. “Last Dance with Mary Jane”–Tom Petty&the Heartbreakers. “Edie”(ciao baby)–The Cult. “Little Miss Dangerous”–Ted Nugent.
“I’m no schoolboy, but I know what I like, you shoulda heard it just around midnight”_________, How come you dance so good”.
One more for the road, “If you’re down right disgusted, and life ain’t worth a dime, find a girl with ___ ____ ____”.
Thanks FEd, wonderful trivia!!
I hear ‘Brown Sugar’ by The Rolling Stones…
I don’t want to work on ______ farm no more.
I know you know this one FEd!
BarbaraP
I don’t want on that farm either but I love that song. I think Dylan mentions the name Maggie in a few more of his songs.
We can’t forget the Beatles with “Lovely Rita”, Lucy In the Sky” and also ” Dizzy Miss Lizzy.” Don’t you just love all those old songs! I find I am listening to them more and more when at home. A sign of getting older I guess!
BarbaraP
I have just been told there is also an Eminem song called “Zoe”, but I’ve never listened to it.
“Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin’ to be so quiet?”
“She’d shake it up
It was hard to make out”
“Wadin’ through the waste stormy winter,
And there’s not a friend to help you through”
“I used to wake up in the morning
I used to feel so bad”
How I love that opening line and song (and the album it’s taken from) – Bob Dylan’s ‘Visions Of Johanna’. Lots of ladies in there.
“We sit here stranded, ‘though we’re all doin’ our best to deny it.”
I also hear Roger Daltrey and The Who.
“Visions Of Johanna” is a beautiful song. I’ve always liked the lines:
“The peddler now speaks to the countess who’s pretending to care for him
Sayin’, “Name me someone that’s not a parasite and I’ll go out and say a prayer for him” ”
When I listened to this song for the first time I had to look for the meaning of the lyrics, because I was not sure I had understood them. I remember the “jelly-faced women” who “all sneeze” left me very perplexed.
And here is another lady from the same album.
“Well, your railroad gate, you know I just can’t jump it
Sometimes it gets so hard, you see”
“I’m just sitting here, beating on my trumpet
With all these promises you left for me.
But where are you tonight, sweet Marie?”
OK, I changed my mind. Dylan for President.
What about Dylan for President and Henley for Prime Minister? The second one, here, seems to have a lot of power, so he should be happy with his position, anyway.
Heck, I’d take just about anyone for Prime Minister ahead of the rosy-cheeked, out-of-touch, rich man’s tool that we have now.
Same here, FEd. If you had said simply “anyone”, I would have offered you to take ours, but I suppose that “just about” excludes him.
We can share — I’ll ship Dylan over and keep Henley right here!
“Lately it feels like I’m asleep and I just can’t wake up;
Pacing the floor, want to call, but I can’t so I hang up;
Sharing a secret on the train with a lady who’s crying has ruined her make up.
Now I see just how young, how scared I was;
Eyes closed tight, throwing punch after punch at the world.
_____, is it ever gonna be the same?”
and
“Lately my hands they don’t feel like mine;
My eyes been stung with dust, I’m blind;
Held you in my arms one time;
Lost you just the same.
______
I ain’t about to go straight,
It’s too late.
I found myself face down in the ditch,
Booze on my hair,
Blood on my lips;
A picture of you, holding a picture of me
in the pocket of my blue jeans;
Still don’t know what love means.”
Two lyrics with girl’s names from a singer/songwriter that I just can’t get enough of lately.
I got Valerie, Marianne, Guinnevere, Susie, Mandy, and Layla from your list, FEd.
As Tim mentioned, The Beatles alone give us lots of choices of songs containing girl’s names. Damn, they wrote so much good music in a very short time, didn’t they? Amazing…
Take care ~ peace and love to you all.
“She’s got hair that flows right down
Right down to the backs of her knees.
Her Papa he was a preaching man
And the lord is hard to please.
So she comes down from the Ozark hills to these very streets to roam
With a banjo and a bible and a fine tooth comb.
Come to me ______,
______ won’t you come on to me
I’ll lay down this bottle of wine if you just be kind to me.”
And then there’s this gem:
“Standing in my broken heart all night long;
Darkness held me like a friend when love wore off;
Looking for the lamb that’s hidden in the cross,
The finder’s lost;
I know I loved you too much;
I’ll go alone to get through.
I hear _______ singing in the night;
Echos of light that shines like stars after they’re gone;
And tonight she’s my guide as I go on alone;
With the music up above.”
A gem indeed! An interesting collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. My search then logically led to this gem.
1) ______ you’re breaking my heart, you’re shaking my confidence daily.
2) ____ in red, is dancing with me.
3) ___ Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
4) Proud ____keep on rolling…
5) _____ lady, walking down the street…
Been humming the first one all day, “down on my knees, beggin’ you please to come home”.
The second one makes me think of Cinderella and Julia Roberts. (you probably have to have seen the film though to get what I mean.)
The third one was loved by all the girls.
The fourth one provides an opportunity to mention a great lady of rock, Tina Turner, who did a great cover of this.
The fifth one loops me back to the second one.
I’m surprised I knew these without cheating. Your clues were just so good Frank.
ash
Nope, I’m thinking this.
If you don’t recall, Homer Simpson sang: “Oh Margie, you came and you found me a turkey on my vacation away from work-ey.”
Just realised what you were playing Fed, “Geno”.
Dexy’s also did a song called, “Come On Eileen”.
ash
“She wore an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today”
That silly song was done by Brian Hyland in 1960. It, er, lends itself to being maligned. All in good fun, or horribly sexist, depending on your sense of humor.
“After all the jacks are in their boxes
And the clowns have all gone to bed”
“When the sun goes to bed
That’s the time you raise your head”
“If anyone wants to know where to find me
I’ll be right here in the warmth of your arms”
“There’s a black hill
We had a climb
Everything I need but nothing’s mine”
There are actually a lot of songs about girls.
Black Sabbath’s cover or Donovan’s on Laleña, Alessandra? Both beautiful.
Donovan’s one, Pavlov. I’ve never listened to the Black Sabbath version, but it seems interesting.
Hello All,
So I thought I might try to join the chat via my new smart phone but I don’t have Java installed. I don’t have time to monkey with this now but does anyone know if this possible?
Also, I noticed that DG does not have an app. At least not on the Android platform. Any plans for developing an official one?
Thanks.
Andrew
Pass, sorry.
“Jennifer, juniper, eyes of gold…”
“She’s a rainbow, light upon her hair”
“Would you like to say, something before you leave,
We met just six hours ago, when the music was too loud,
We say goodbye before we say hello,
I hardly even like you, I shouldn’t care at all”
“Green is the colour of her hair…”