Character songs sung by the "wrong" gender

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from something pete said in New York London Paris Munich

The only one I can think of is "Angel From Montgomery" where John Prine sings "I am an old woman / named after my mother / my old man is another / child that's grown old". It has this tremendous affect for me. In this particular case it might be that I feel he's speaking FOR her, as much as he is AS her, taking up her cause, identifying himself with her life and her struggles so much that he can genuinely say he's her. A trick that invites me to think she's dead actually, and this is his way of remembering. (I'm reminded of how actors feel an allegiance to their character, an obligation to stand up for their character; or how a forensic pathologist sees him or herself as the "voice of the dead") Maybe this is what all character studies do, and having the genders mixed up just makes it more explicit? Even so, let's hear em if you got em.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 18:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Belle and Sebastian "The Chalet Lines"

He raped me in the chalet lines
I had just said no for the final time
Although it's last month it's like yesterday
I missed my time, I don't think I could stand
To take the test, I'm feeling sick

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 19:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Rough Boys - Pete Townshend... At least he claims that it's from a woman's perspective...

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 19:25 (twenty-three years ago)

I think the Replacements MOR semi-hit "Achin' To Be" sort of falls into this, though it's a third person voice... It's about a girl but we really now it's more of Paul's beautiful loser narcissism.

― andy, Tuesday, 8 October 2002 19:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Joan Baez-"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

"Like my father before me, I'm a working man
And like my brother before me, I took a rebel stand"

Marc Almond-"A Woman's Story"

"My reputation was all over town
As a woman who was passed around
And I knew every wrong way to go"

― Arthur (Arthur), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 19:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Joan Baez-"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
"Like my father before me, I'm a working man
And like my brother before me, I took a rebel stand"

Do covers count?

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 19:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, if not then forget about both of my suggestions.

― Arthur (Arthur), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 19:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought "Rough Boys" was supposed to be Townshend's way of outting himself!

Not sure this counts, but U2's lamentable cover of Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot" doesn't alter the lyrics....causing a wee bit of confusion. Likewise Sinead O'Connor's rendition of "I Am Stretched On Your Grave."

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 19:49 (twenty-three years ago)

on the last Firewater album there was a duet with Jennifer Charles, "Bad Bad World" where they start correct (he: "I'm a bad bad boy", she: "I'm a bad bad girl") but by the end they've switched lines.

The Geraldine Fibbers did a lot of c&w covers that perserved the male perspective when sung by Carla, but there was a lot of ambiguity and implied bisexuality in her originals too.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 19:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Fugazi - "Suggestion"

"Is my body the only trait in the eye's of men?"

― Ian Johnson, Tuesday, 8 October 2002 20:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Billy Bragg's "Valentine's Day is Over" is sung from the perspective of a battered girlfriend.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 20:08 (twenty-three years ago)

"I'm a Man You Don't meet Everyday" as sung by Cait O'Roirdan

― Lord Custos Alpha (Lord Custos Alpha), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 20:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Joan Jett's cover of Do Ya Wanna Touch Me There? on Bad Reputation...

...is kinda hot...

― jM, Tuesday, 8 October 2002 20:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Covers count!!!! Because the new performer has a decision to make i.e. are there things they can suggest with the other gender that they can't with their own? On "The Tide is High" for instance I can't see any advantage or extra resonance had Harry decided to sing it with the original gender intact.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 20:36 (twenty-three years ago)

the whole of the recorded output of suede between
92 and 96. give or take.

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 8 October 2002 20:41 (twenty-three years ago)

I know there's at least one song from 69 Love Songs. Likely more?? "The Night You Can't Remember", right?

― A.V. Alexandre (Keiko), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 20:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Robert Palmer's cover of "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" made me young mind think about gender in a precocious way, for the duration of the time the song played on MTV...

Though the Palmer girls sort of ruined the effect...

― Mary (Mary), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 21:38 (twenty-three years ago)

One of my faves:

"I'm only 17 and I want much more,
Then a small town girl should bargain for,
More than standing in one place,
Waitin' on the next James Dean..."

- Ellis Paul, "Look at the Wind Blow"

― Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 22:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Sort of on the same tip; in his version of "Who Do You Love?", Tom Rush keeps the original line and refers to himself as Bo Diddly.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 22:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Suzanne Vega - "Luka"
Grace Jones - "Demolition Man" (not truly a cover)
Kraftwerk - "The Model"

that's all that I can think of.

― gygax!, Tuesday, 8 October 2002 22:07 (twenty-three years ago)

"It's My Party" as sung by Bryan Ferry.

― Sean (Sean), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 22:18 (twenty-three years ago)

"the whole of the recorded output of suede between 92 and 96. give or take. "

Nah.....weren't Suede trying to play up the "we're gay!" angle?

"The Curse of Millhaven" off Nick Cave's MURDER BALLAD is sung from the perspective of a psychopathic little girl (Cave relishing the role).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 22:26 (twenty-three years ago)

massive attack 'protection' though I always am a little unsure

― Josh (Josh), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 22:55 (twenty-three years ago)

White Town-"Your Woman"

― Arthur (Arthur), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 23:38 (twenty-three years ago)

The Raincoats' cover of "Lola"

― alex in montreal, Tuesday, 8 October 2002 23:39 (twenty-three years ago)

that cover of the la's song "there she goes" by...oh, i forget. some band with a girl. the whole song's about your typical male romantic ideal of a girl, and now you've got a girl with a great voice singing about it. doesn't fit, in my opinion.

― JOOLS, Wednesday, 9 October 2002 00:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Dylan, "House of the Rising Sun" & "North Country Blues". R.E.M., "Tongue".

Of course, sometimes a song is changed to fit the new singer to disastrous results; see the Breeders' cover of "Drivin' on 9", which gutted most of the best lines, where the singer worries about whether he got the woman pregnant or not...

― Chris Piuma, Wednesday, 9 October 2002 01:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought "Rough Boys" was supposed to be Townshend's way of outting himself!

Are you sure you're not thinking of "And I Moved":

And I moved
And his hands felt like ice exciting
As he laid me back just like an empty dress
And I moved
But a minute after he was weeping
His tears his only truth.
And I moved
But I moved toward him

Supposedly written for Bette Midler to sing.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 9 October 2002 01:41 (twenty-three years ago)

"The Model" protag lez-up shocker! (if this is what you're saying gygax)

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 9 October 2002 02:37 (twenty-three years ago)

susan anway did this often when singing for magnetic fields.

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 9 October 2002 02:43 (twenty-three years ago)

sixpence none the richer did the cover of "There She Goes."

"Kiss Me" which is their original hit is much better.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Wednesday, 9 October 2002 03:19 (twenty-three years ago)

I own this thread.

― Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 9 October 2002 04:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hm, yeah...

Never thought of the "The Model" like that before, am I just ignorant?

― Michael Dieter, Wednesday, 9 October 2002 04:25 (twenty-three years ago)

lucky guy (rickie lee jones).

― cecilia, Thursday, 10 October 2002 00:44 (twenty-three years ago)

"Highschool Confidential" by Rough Trade? Or maybe that's just my juvenile naivete talking...

― Kim (Kim), Thursday, 10 October 2002 00:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Character songs sung by....kittens....

― A.V. Alexandre (Keiko), Thursday, 10 October 2002 00:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Jack White sings a cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene."

"Jolene, Jolene, Jolene Jolene,
I'm begging of you
Please don't take my man.

"Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene,
Please don't do it
Even though you can."

― Steph (Steph), Thursday, 10 October 2002 02:08 (twenty-three years ago)

lucky guy (rickie lee jones).

She also does a version of "Lush Life", with the original lyrics in tact.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Thursday, 10 October 2002 02:12 (twenty-three years ago)

yesh, Magnetic Fields' 'Candy' with Susan Anway purring "I can't be the man they want me to be". There are several other examples on Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees too, if i cld be bothered getting up to find it/check.

― petra jane (petra jane), Thursday, 10 October 2002 04:34 (twenty-three years ago)

gender-bending narratives are a specialty of stephin merrit's and I think he even talks about it in the interview in the 69 love songs liner notes

― coelcanth, Thursday, 10 October 2002 19:59 (twenty-three years ago)

I always found it interesting that "Me & Bobby McGee" was written by a man (Kris Kristofferson).

― earlnash, Thursday, 10 October 2002 21:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Brian Wilson's "I Sleep Alone"...sung from the first-person point of view of the downtrodden girlfriend of a married man...

― G. Turkington, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 22:48 (twenty-three years ago)

White Town-"Your Woman"

Sorta. I remember reading that it's sung from the point of view of a man who is in love with a lesbian. I checked the White Town FAQ (excerpt below), and it's not as simple as that:

========== quote ============
Q: I love 'Your Woman' *BUT* what is it about??? Are you a man/woman/transsexual?

A: Ummmm...well, that's a toughie. When I wrote it, I was trying to write a catchy pop song that had more than one perspective. Although it's written in the first person that viewpoint isn't the same as it may sound. So, these are *some* of the things it's about:
Being a member of an orthodox Trotskyist / Marxist movement (as I was for three years in the 80s).
Being a straight guy in love with a lesbian (ditto).
Being a gay guy in love with a straight man.
Being a straight girl in love with a lying, two-timing, fake-ass Marxist.

The hypocrisy that results when love and lust get mixed up with highbrow ideals :-)

The last time I checked I was male. But as for gender....that's another kettle of fish :-)
========== unquote ============

― Ernest P., Thursday, 17 October 2002 12:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Too many Carter Family songs to name.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 17 October 2002 13:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Did we agree that covers are permitted? If yes, you have to hear the Afghan Whigs' cover of "Sheela-Na-Gig"...complete with the line "childbearing hips." They've also covered "Miss World" but that was probably more a dig at Courtney Love.

― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 17 October 2002 13:22 (twenty-three years ago)

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