Female Singer/Songwriter Thread

[odellthurman]

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Lucinda Williams is fantastic and deserves a longer post. Go for it.

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In a late night attempt to motivate someone with more time check out Right In Time, Drunken Angel and World Without Tears.

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No time to do a long Lucinda Williams post at work today, but here is an article from the excellent music magazine, No Depression, that focuses on what most people consider to be Lucinda Williams' best album - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - http://www.nodepression.net/issues/nd16/lucinda.html

And Lucinda singing "Joy", which is a song that from time to time has gotten in my head and caused me to listen to it over and over and over and over on my iPod - http://youtube.com/watch?v=p1B4Q0hugV8 - I caution you beforehand so you can't blame me if it causes you to go similarly insane.

Lucinda Williams is one of the greatest female singer songwriters of all time, and that's not an exaggeration. She is a genius.

[TomE.]

My favorite female singer/songwriter, Joni Mitchell, and my favorite song from her:
Both Sides Now

I remember when this song came out, it was being played on the AM stations my mom would listen to. Even though I was fairly young when it came out, the message and the images it invoked stuck with me to this day.

Later, Joni recorded with Jaco Pastorius, notably on "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter", then with Pat Metheny, Jaco, and Michael Brecker on "Shadows and Light", a live album. These are my favorite Joni cd's.



In the late 80's - early 90's the NPR station out of Wayne State University in Detroit, WDET, had a national show called "Cypress Avenue" hosted by a guy whose name I can't recall, but he had one show devoted to Richard and Linda Thompson. Linda isn't the main songwriter, but there's no doubt she shared in the lyric writing. Apparently, during the recording of "Shoot Out the Lights" in 1982, the songs were written in response to the separation they were going thru. Anyway, here is "A Heart Needs a Home":
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5upiUrUw0Jk A Heart Needs a Home


And now, some great songs with excellent female leads that I just feel like sharing:
Elizabeth Fraser/Cocteau Twins - Carolyn's Fingers

Annie Haslam/Renaissance - Carpet of the Sun
Note: this isn't best Renaissance song, although it does display Annie's vocal range. I was looking for "Can You Hear Me". If you can find this song, absolutely give it a listen.

[hanimal]

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That Paper Bag video is greatness, though unfortunately a lot of her videos are really bad ("The First Taste" being particularly awful). It sucks because I like Fiona quite a bit.

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Yeah that's true. Her early videos seem like they were just the run of the mill lets make this pop star some videos videos. But Paper Bag was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and so was Fast As You Can. Could explain the greatness.

Also Zack Galafianakis is in this one http://youtube.com/watch?v=krTE0AJkqj4

It's interesting to really see her maturity and growth as an artist.

[wdogg40]

This is one superb thread. I also find myself drawn to the female singer-song writers. Joni Mitchell is one of the best. Circle Game was played at my wedding for the groom/mother dance. Youtube Video
My folks had all her albums and i use to listen to them non-stop.

I've been lucky enough to have seen Iris Dement live as she played a little auditorium on the USD campus a few years ago. Excellent show. I really enjoy the song Easy's Gettin Harder Every Day (sorry, couldn't find a link)

I only recently gotten into Lucinda Williams about 2-3 years ago when a friend had her new disk World Without Tears and heard Those Three Days and then I pretty much found anything with her name on it and snatched it up.

Based on the people already mentioned I feel that everyone would enjoy this excellent singer songwriter from the midwest. I first saw her in a coffee shop in Rapid City, SD and have seen her about a half a dozen other times. She's witty, compassionate, and down right talented. Her name is Brenda Weiler and I encourage everyone to check her out.

Here is her myspace page that features songs from her new personal album:
Myspace page

Here is her website that features some stuff from her older albums: Brendaweiler.com

There are quite a few other talented females that I hope get brought up in this thread in the near future. I am going to list some for the fact that I don't want to forget them.

Tori Amos
Kasey Chambers
Tift Merrit
Ani Difranco
Sarah McLachlan

Just to name a few.

[katyseagull]

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This is one superb thread. I also find myself drawn to the female singer-song writers. Joni Mitchell is one of the best. Circle Game was played at my wedding for the groom/mother dance. My folks had all her albums and i use to listen to them non-stop.



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Circle Game makes me cry.

[Dominic]

here's a one-hit wonder female singer songwriter I love:


Anna Nalick

Her Breathe (2AM) is an absoultely gorgeous song I can replay over and over and not grow tired of.

Here's the video:

Breathe

Her lyrics are a bit "20-something girl-writing-deep-poetry" but they're sung so beautifully it works.

Makes me wonder why we never heard from her again!

[Dominic]

Azure Ray

This is an American Dream Pop duo that I absolutely love. They're music is ethereal, slow and sleepy and very dream-like...with gorgeous harmonies mixed with either acoustic guitar or synthesizers...

Here's some videos:

The Drinks We Had Last Night

We Are Mice


this one is probably their most well know song:

New Resolution

Great song but an awful video...

[katyseagull]

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I am so in love with her voice and songwriting talent (sorry if the image hotlink doesn't work):

Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders combines the ability to wrench your soul with the swaggering braggadocio of a young street tough.

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her songwriting is intensely emotional, personal and uncompromising

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Crap, I just wrote a long response in reply to this post (twice now) and lost all of it [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]. lol. blah.


Anyway, I love your description of Chrissie Hynde Origami. As far as vocals go I have to say that I love this girl's unique voice and when I listen to her it really is gut wrenching. Like Joni Mitchell she can make me cry. She's responsible for co-writing one of my favorite songs "I'll Stand By You." Beautiful vocals and I like her lyrics a lot.



Chrissie Hynde singing "I'll Stand By You"



Here's a quote from Billy Steinberg who cowrote the song,

Steinberg: "'I'll Stand By You,' like the other hits that Tom and I wrote, started out as a lyric that I had in a notebook. I had the title and the chorus lyric. Chrissie is a very, very strong songwriter in her own right. She's very ruthless, ....
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I remember she would just take a pen and she would cross out any lines I had written that she didn't like, and usually the lines that she didn't like would be ones that were too tender or too poetic. She would toughen up stuff I'd written. On 'I'll Stand By You' she added lines and changed lines."

'I'll Stand By You' felt a little generic. I know that Chrissie felt that way too to some extent. I don't think she really entirely embraced it to begin with, but she certainly does now because when she plays it live, it's one of the songs that gets the strongest response. It's done really well for her and for us."




Anyay I really love the emotion in this song and think the lyrics they came up with are actually quite powerful even if they are simple. (And the opening line is one of my favorites.)


Oh, why you look so sad?
Tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now
Dont be ashamed to cry
Let me see you through
cause Ive seen the dark side too
When the night falls on you
You dont know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less

Ill stand by you
Ill stand by you
Wont let nobody hurt you
Ill stand by you

[wdogg40]

She's responsible for co-writing one of my favorite songs "I'll Stand By You." Beautiful vocals and I like her lyrics a lot.



Chrissie Hynde singing "I'll Stand By You"



Here's a quote from Billy Steinberg who cowrote the song,

Steinberg: "'I'll Stand By You,' like the other hits that Tom and I wrote, started out as a lyric that I had in a notebook. I had the title and the chorus lyric. Chrissie is a very, very strong songwriter in her own right. She's very ruthless, ....
..
I remember she would just take a pen and she would cross out any lines I had written that she didn't like, and usually the lines that she didn't like would be ones that were too tender or too poetic. She would toughen up stuff I'd written. On 'I'll Stand By You' she added lines and changed lines."

'I'll Stand By You' felt a little generic. I know that Chrissie felt that way too to some extent. I don't think she really entirely embraced it to begin with, but she certainly does now because when she plays it live, it's one of the songs that gets the strongest response. It's done really well for her and for us."




Anyay I really love the emotion in this song and think the lyrics they came up with are actually quite powerful even if they are simple. (And the opening line is one of my favorites.)


Oh, why you look so sad?
Tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now
Dont be ashamed to cry
Let me see you through
cause Ive seen the dark side too
When the night falls on you
You dont know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less

Ill stand by you
Ill stand by you
Wont let nobody hurt you
Ill stand by you

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Funny thing about this song: I was listening to it with 4 best friends when I got a DUI. Great song.

[Dominic]

Kristin Hirsch

This is a gal who once led 90's female icons Throwing Muses, became a solo artist, and now leads the hardcore punk trio, 50 Foot Wave.

Hersh's music is known for its chords, sonic treatments, and a vocal style ranging from softly melodic singing to impassioned screaming.

Throwing Muses was started with Hirsch's step-sister, Tanya Donnelly (later of Belly) in 1981 and helped launch a "women in alternative rock" movement. Their songs (mostly written by Hirsch) often touched on mental illness and often led to questions about the writer's own sanity!

Throwing Muses on wikipedia

music video - Throwing Muses - Bright Yellow Gun

As much as I love Throwing Muses, it's Hirsh's solo work that captivates me.

Here's a song from Hips & Makers that features Michael Stipe on backing vocals:

Your Ghost