I started with a lyric in the thread's title that's pretty important to me and that seems to be important for a lot of feminist music... the question of the audience. Who is listening to feminist music? And, is music with an important message reaching listeners who might be open to feminist suggestions or ideas (as in changing peoples' minds)... or is a lot of feminist music either not taken seriously or simply "preaching to the choir" in terms of an audience of women who already agree with the content of the lyrics?
The quotation I put in the title of the thread initially "my doll mouth to your deaf ear" ... (for now, until someone else suggests a new lyric) is from a pretty obscure song called "Burn Black" by Hole. And, it's about just this anxiety... the anxiety about women's music reaching a significant audience... and the question of being taken seriously.
This is a running theme in many songs by Hole... another great lyric on this theme is:
"No one is listening my friends..." from the song "Miss World"
These lyrics are sung somewhat ironically because there's a self-consciousness that there is an interested audience.
But anyway, for me personally, music is hugely important and I love a lot of different kinds of music. From David Bowie (his music has shaped my life in ways I can hardly describe) to other forms of classic rock, to folk, to punk to even the BBM soundtrack... music has always been an important way in which I cope with life and the world.
When it comes to women's music, I love Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, Ani Difranco and a host of other people... but one genre that I run to a lot is riot grrrl music (or feminist punk/ rock). Some of my favorite bands include Hole, Sleater-Kinney, L7, Le Tigre, Bikini Kill... and other tangentially related bands like Garbage. The aggressiveness of this music and the bluntness of the lyrics can often be really cathartic to me. The "surliness" of the music can be such a relief in terms of dealing with frustrations and the inevitable anger that can come up when thinking about some of the more dire and depressing aspects of feminist issues and women's rights struggles.
One of the most interesting things about riot grrrl music is that it's very self conscious and self referential... the music often talks about the music industry itself and the place of women in the music world. It talks about women trying to make it as professional musicians, but it also talks about things like the safety of women in rock concert audiences, etc. The lyrics can be truly fascinating.
And, I chose a Hole quotation, because, music by this band really truly saw me through some of my hardest, darkest hours. And, I can sit and listen to Hole albums almost endlessly. Courtney Love is definitely a fiasco in terms of being a general public figure. But, in her real work as a musician she truly is brilliant... her current state is tragic in comparison to her original project. Her career initially was all about producing really smart, feminist punk rock, which got derailed for obvious reasons. In her heyday, she was the queen of the riot grrrls and one of the most fierce songwriters. And, like I said, in my mid-20s when I was going through some tremendously hard times emotionally, her music was really helpful to me.
Reading lyrics without the accompanying music can sometimes be hard, but I'll definitely post some of the more interesting lyrics here in days to come.
