for my little woman who rocks

was driving home the other day, when I caught one of my all-time favorite songs on WXRT. They were playing their "women in rock" segment. Artist was PJ Harvey, song was Sheela-Na-Gig. It was from her debut in 1992.

In one of those "only happens on TV/ In The Movies" moments, I was trying desperately to find a hole in the traffic, so I could get past some fuktard who was doing 60mph in the left lane on the Tri-State. With 1/2 mile of open lane in front of him.

I really hate that.
Anyhow, as I see a convoluted but technically possible route across two lanes, and then back, The opening bars of the song start playing.
I had my own soundtrack for aproximately 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
Song started, I turned it up and punched the gas pedal.
It was one of those brief, fleeting moments when everything aligns on a cosmic level, and is just as quickly gone again.
But when you're actually in the moment, you're....high.

I had time to contemplate the idea of a special segment for women in rock, a few minutes later. WXRT plays plenty of songs by female artists.
But went out of their way to celebrate specific artists, for five minutes, two days a week.

They tend to be overshadowed by the pure abundance of men in rock. Also, it tends to come in phases. There will be brief periods where you'll find a lot of girlbands on the airwaves, then you don't anymore.

Heard another one of my personal faves, driving home from the train last night.

So decided to get all "High Fidelity" about it, and come up with a top-10 desert island list of some of my favorite"women in rock" songs. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and, aside from the first couple, are really not in any kind of order.

For my little woman of rock....


1. Sheela Na Gig - PJ Harvey
2. Feed the Tree - Belly
3. Seether - Veruca Salt
4. Shame on You - Indigo Girls
5. Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos
6. Homestead - Michelle Shocked
7. Doll Parts - Hole
8. My Sister - Juliana Hatfield
9. Last Splash - The Breeders
10. Pissing in the River - Patti Smith

Honorable mentions:

Pass you By - Gillian Welch
Sweet Relief - Maria Mckee
I know What Boys Like - The Waitresses
We Got The Beat - The Go-Go's


And like in "High Fidelity" you know damn well that I added and subtracted from the above list many times.


I left some great rock and roll songs off the above list, just because... they're not my favorites. I don't even care for 'em that much, but recognize them for what they are.

Do You Wanna Touch Me? - Joan Jett
Barracuda - Heart
Thing Called Love - Bonnie Raitt

And very talented female artists were left off, cuz... they don't really rock.

my $0.02, anyhow.