Fierce Women Playlist... Not Just for the Ladies

Fierce Women Playlist... Not Just for the Ladies

Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard...

X-ray Spex

by Karma Bennett

As a woman, to be passive is the path of least resistance. Though society is changing, there are still too many women who get the message that every answer should be “yes” and say it with a smile. To be aggressive, to be fierce, is to go against the grain. There’s a bravery in it that those of any gender can admire. I’m confident you don’t have to be a woman to find these songs empowering. But maybe my immodesty is a consequence of all the swagger coming off of this playlist..? You be the judge.

Our playlists starts out slow to take you on a musical journey, so we start off with sultry singers like FKA Twigs, Sevdaliza, and iamwhoiam. Don’t miss Nina Simone sassing a crooked preacher in “Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter,” ...in general never miss a chance to grace your ears with Nina Simone. Then we meander into folksy, fierce songs for singing around the campfire.

This leads into a section of soul and blues singers whose voices quake with awesome power and emotion. Then it’s onto women who rock, from riot grrrls like Sleatter- Kinney and Bikini Kill to modern rockers like Honeyblood or virtuoso guitar player St. Vincent. Mixed in are a few fierce rappers to mix up the sound, then it’s onto larger-than-life pop divas set on boosting your confidence. Finally, we bring it back to chill mode with some fearless musical innovators like Glass Candy, The Knife, and Tank and the Bangas.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and how could it be, when there are so many fierce women in music? In fact, many of ra-ra-girl-power songs you may expect on such a list won’t be here. Sure, there are some classics but this is Rare and we’re here to shine a light on some fierce artists and tracks that you may have overlooked. But we’d love to know what you think: what songs go on your Fierce Women playlist? What are the underplayed gems we left out?

Some Highlights from our Fierce Women Playlist

Tori Amos - Precious Things

If you don’t know how a woman who sings pretty piano songs can come off as fierce than you’ve never seen her live. Tori Amos plays piano like Eddie Van Halen played guitar. I’m not fierce enough myself to share the lyrics of this song here but its beautiful, bold blasphemy was what many a teen needed to make it through the day.

Ani Difranco - Not a Pretty Girl

If you’ve never heard Ani Difranco, it’s only because she has been on her own label since the nineties. But to a particular generation, everyone knew at least one person who was obsessed with her music. In “Not a Pretty Girl” she sings:

And what if there are no damsels in distress?

What if I knew that and I called your bluff?

Don’t you think every kitten figures out how to get down,

Whether or not you ever show up?

If you like this one, “Willing to Fight,” “Joyful Girl,” “Anticipate” and “Out of Habit” are just a few of her many fierce songs.

Big Mama Thorton - They Call Me Big Mama

Elvis has nothing on Big Mama Thorton, and she can prove it with her outstanding performance of “Hound Dog.” We’ve included “They Call Me Big Mama” and if you like that check out “Sassy Mama” too. The Queen of the Memphis Blues has plenty more where that came from.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - She Ain’t a Child No More

Sharon Jones is another must-have for this list. I got to see her before she died and I can tell you that this woman, who had already fought off cancer shortly before I saw her own the stage, was more fierce at 55 than I will ever be. Her life and her performances are truly inspirational. Other fierce songs by Sharon Jones include “Natural Born Lover” and her cover of This Land Is Your Land (one of my all-time favorite covers).

Betty Davis - They Say I’m Different

It was Betty Davis that inspired this list. Initially a model, she turned to songwriting because she found modeling “boring.” The first song she wrote professionally became a hit for the Chambers Brothers. She was friends with Jimi Hendrix, and it was her introduction of him to her husband Miles Davis that inspired him to create his legendary album Witches Brew.

Carlos Santa said she was “indomitable – she couldn’t be tamed” and her music was often banned from radio and boycotted for her sexually aggressive performances. If there is anything more fierce than “They Say I’m Different,” I don’t know if I can handle it. Other fierce Betty Davis songs include “Nasty Gal” and “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up.”

Childbirth - Let’s Be Bad

A few years ago, I fell in love with the all-girl band Childbirth, who sound exactly like if L7 had had a sense of humor. The joke of “Let’s Be Bad” is that their naughty invitation for things like wearing tight skirts and ordering “a couple of white wines” isn’t truly risque. But if there other songs are to be believed (such as “Baby Bump” and “I Only Fucked You as a Joke”) these rockers are the bad influence you’re looking for.

Noisettes - Don’t Give Up

Noisettes are among the top bands I want to see live because singer Shingai Shoniwa has an incredible voice. She’s not just a pretty voice though, she’s also the band’s bassist. The Noisettes more recent albums have had a modern motown sound like what Amy Winehouse had made it through rehab and come out stronger. Their second album Wild Young Hearts is great from beginning to end, but this is a change of direction from the solid rockage of their first album, What’s the Time, Mr. Wolf? If you only know The Noisettes for fun sing-along-songs like “Never Forget You” you may be surprised by just how hard this album rocks.

Le Tigre - FYR

A list of bad-ass female musicians wouldn’t be complete without some riot grrrl and Bikini Kill is the defining band of the genre. Kathleen Hannah of Binkin Kill revolutionized indie music for a second generation, with her lo-fi electroclash act Le Tigre.

Best known for the single “Deceptacon”, a punk rock diss track that calls out NOFX, but they have so many other worthy tracks that defined the sound of third wave feminism. Hannah is married to a Beastie Boy and she even inspired the title of Nirvana’s most famous song. If you can’t get enough of Le Tigre, check out Hannah’s other band The Julie Ruin or fellow bandmate JD Samson’s dance act MEN.

Metric - Patriarch on a Vespa

Metric makes music that is the perfect mix of rock and electro. Songs like “Gold Guns Girls” and “Police and the Private” are some standout tracks from one of my favorite bands, but it’s on “Patriarch on a Vespa” where lead singer Emily Haines proves her place on this list. In it, she sings about the constraints of gender that people feel forced into, that they keep “trying to fix it.” Sometimes when she shouts, “when they should break it,” it gives me shivers.

Lily Allen - Hard Out Here

I don’t understand why this song wasn’t a worldwide pop hit. Lily Allen is already famous beyond her home in the UK, and “Hard Out Here’’ is so clever and relevant it seems bound to be put on repeat from all who discover it. The suits aren’t writing Allen’s music, which is how she ends up with sarcastic lyrics like, “You should probably lose some weight / ‘Cause we can’t see your bones /You should probably fix your face / Or you’ll end up on your own.” Did you know she is the god daughter of punk legend Joe Strummer? No wonder she confronts sexist pop expectations.

Sofi Tukker - F**k They

Sophie Hawley-Weld is one half of the dance-pop act Soffi Tukker. In the addictive jam “F**k They” Sophie refers to the ominous they as if the rumors of the crowd were a specific entity that can be named and blamed. This is a song to help you embrace your true self and ignore the haters, preferably while dancing. “Baby I’m a Queen” is another fierce pop song by this duo, and if you like both of those you’re in for a treat because I’ve yet to hear a song of theirs that wasn’t worthy of heavy rotation.

SEXWITCH - Ha Howa Ha Howa

SEXWITCH is a side project of Natasha Khan, better known as Bat for Lashes (in collaboration with indie rock band Toy). In SEXWITCH she covers obscure international folk and psychedelic songs from the 70s. Despite these songs spanning a geography as wide as Iran, Thailand and Morroco, they are united by the hypnotic and animalistic chanting of Khan’s voice. Though these songs are from before the genre we call “dance music” even existed, there is a primal pull in them that seems well suited to shaking, swaying, and running naked into the forest beating your chest.

Tank and the Bangas - Colors Change

Often I like to end these playlists with a song that is offbeat or funny, but this time I knew Tank and the Bangas “Colors Change” would be the perfect closer. Harder-hitting Tank and the Bangas songs like “Dope Girl Magic” might seem the obvious choice for this list, but to me the poetic “Colors Change” beautifully tackles her capability to be both soft and hard, gentle and fierce. At over six minutes, in this lullaby Tank sings to her lover, comparing herself to an island, not to be conquered. “You didn’t discover me, you know…”

Did I confuse you at how I could be a sea for you and land for him?

I was both of these women, I am, I is

I am swamp water and ocean tree

Coconut water and mint leaves Healer and hurricane, spit and shoot

Too fast food for you

Too ready, too weighted

Too window open

Too side door swingin’

Too woman?

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