YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 68 (About A Girl)
(Originally finalized on March 26, 2024)
Preface: Since there are so many songs written with a girl's name in the title, I wanted to give this theme another go 'round. But to keep things fresh, whereas last time I picked songs that share a girl's name, this time I'm expanding my search to include songs that merely include a girl's name in the title. Once again, this is just a small selection of what's out there. (And if there are any Nirvana fans feeling a little bit misled right now, I am all apologies - it was too perfect a title to pass up).
Monday: The Allman Brothers Band - In Memory of Elizabeth Reed [Idlewild South, 1970]
Comments: I wasn't kidding when I said the Allman Brothers Band have a lot of songs with girls' names in the title! So here's another one. This one is also a guitar instrumental, and one of my favorite songs by this band. Written by guitarist Dickey Betts, the story is that it was named after a random headstone spotted in a cemetery that members of the band would frequent. What a way to be memorialized!
Tuesday: AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie [Let There Be Rock, 1977]
Comments: Truthfully, I'm not into the BBW ("big, beautiful woman") aesthetic. I like svelte, athletic types. I don't say that to throw any shade, but to emphasize how much this song rocks. I love it, even though I don't identify with the lyrics - it's just that good! I don't know if songs like this one (and Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls) are empowering, or just objectifying (the eponymous Rosie was a Tasmanian sex worker of Bon Scott's acquaintance) - for all I know, bigger women feel the same way about them that I feel about songs that broach the subject of cross-dressing. But, like Aerosmith's Dude (Looks Like A Lady), problematic or not, this song's a banger.
Wednesday: The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane [Loaded, 1970]
Comments: We're gonna pull it back for our next song, from The Velvet Underground's fourth album, Loaded. It's Lou Reed's ode to Sweet Jane. It's unassuming, yet a perennial favorite that's been covered many times over - first by Mott The Hoople (produced by David Bowie and featuring Mick Ralphs, who shortly thereafter joined Paul Rodgers to form Bad Company), and later to critical acclaim by Cowboy Junkies, in a slower arrangement. It's not a song that knocks you over the head with screaming guitar, but it's relaxing, and has a catchy rhythm. It's like comfort food.
Thursday: Country Joe & The Fish - Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine [Electric Music For The Mind And Body, 1967]
Comments: If you've ever watched the Woodstock documentary film, then you know who Country Joe McDonald is - he's the one who led the "Fish cheer" and got the crowd to shout the f-word (a habit that would, unfortunately, get him banned from The Ed Sullivan Show, and fined for obscenity) before singing an antiwar protest song. From the psychedelic opus that is the album Electric Music For The Mind And Body, here's a song about a girl who's not so sweet (although Uriah Heep would beg to differ). I can't quite figure exactly who this Martha Lorraine is, but it sounds like she's into new age mysticism in a big way.
Friday: Bob Dylan - Maggie's Farm [Bringing It All Back Home, 1965]
Comments: From the album that featured his transition from acoustic to electric music, Bob Dylan sings an anthem for everyone whose labor has ever been exploited, and anyone who's ever been frustrated by the daily grind. And isn't that pretty much all of us? This is another iconic track that has been covered (or referenced) many times. And while we're talking about it, I cannot neglect to mention the live version that was performed at the Newport Folk Festival with Mike Bloomfield on lead guitar. It was the infamous moment when Bob Dylan "went electric", and pissed off his fanbase of folk traditionalists. Whether the stories have been exaggerated or not, it was a pivotal moment in the history of music.
Saturday: The Who - Pictures of Lily [released as a single, 1967]
Comments: Here's a humorous but heartfelt song (a vibe The Who does well) about the therapeutic benefits of pin-up photography, and its role in immortalizing beauty and desire. The Lily in question has been identified as Lillie Langtry, a real life stage actress and portrait model who lived from 1853-1929. In the song, a young man has trouble sleeping, until his dad introduces him to some pin-ups, which solves the problem straightaway. That is, until he falls in love with the subject of his fantasies, and learns that she's already been dead for many years...
Sunday: Pink Floyd - See Emily Play [released as a single, 1967]
Comments: I'm overlooking Careful With That Axe, Eugene (one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs ever) because it was better suited to a different theme. Instead, here's the band's second single (after Arnold Layne) - a better demonstration, I think, of the psychedelic sound of the band in their early years, with Syd Barrett. Reports vary on who the song was named for, but one source credits a sculptor nicknamed "the psychedelic schoolgirl" of the London club scene, and I like the sound of that.
Honorable Mention: This was another theme that was really hard to pare down to seven tracks. I'm going to have to repeat what I said for the original Girls' Names theme - there are just too many songs to list. I picked seven that I like. Feel free to add your own favorites.
