Songs About Gender Issues

[niamh]

I am a BIG fan of Suzanne Vega



and The Manic Street Preachers



Contains the line: 'And I wish I had been born a girl and not this mess of a man'. When I first got that album in 1998 I used to play that song over and over in my room and just cry.

I don't really know French all that well... but if you watch the video, it's pretty obvious that the song talks about something like gender issues.



It's called "Toi T'en Reves" by: Narcys. If anyone is able to translate it, I would certainly appreciate it.

I speak French.

Toi t'en rêves, toi t'en rêves, de leur montrer qui tu es,
Et t'en crèves, et t'en crèves, de n'pas pouvoir exister
Dans tes rêves, dans tes rêves, tu ne veux qu'être aimer !
Et t'en crèves, et t'en crèves, t'as mal à en crier !

You dream, you dream, of showing them who you are,
And  you die, you die, from not being able to exist
In your dreams, in your dreams, you just want to be loved!
And you die, you die, it hurts you to scream!

Quand il s'prenait pour un cow-boy, toi tu recoiffais ta poupée,
Et tu passais les heures à te demander si ça s'faisait,
Tu regardais ta mère toujours si calme, toujours si douce,
Tu regardais ton père et tes yeux tombaient sur tes pieds...

When he played a cowboy, you you restylled your doll's hair,
And you spent hours asking yourself if it was complete,
You watched your mother always so calm, always so soft,
You watched your dad and your eyes fell to your feet...

Maintenant il joue avec les filles, toi tu restes au fond d'la cours...
Si sûr de lui, comme tu l'envie ! mais ton coeur brûle d'amour...
T'écris des lettres que t'envoie pas, il les lirais même pas,
Il penserait même pas que c'est toi puisqu'il ne te voit pas ...

Now he plays with the girls, you you stay in the back of the class...
So sure of himself, as you desire! but your heart burns from love...
You write letters which you don't send, he wouldn't read them anyway,
He wouldn't evn think that it is you as he doesn't see you...

[Arch]

How about "Rebel, Rebel"? I think it only has the one line, though.

[Alyssa M.]

Bob Seger's trans:

Well you walk into a restaurant,
Strung out from the road,
And you feel the eyes upon you
As you're shakin' off the cold.
You pretend it doesn't bother you,
But you just want to explode.

Most times you can't hear 'em talk,
Other times you can,
All the same old cliches,
"Is that a woman or a man?"
And you always seem outnumbered,
You don't dare make a stand.

[Nathan.]

Forgot to add this earlier

[Lacey Lynne]

How about "Rebel, Rebel"? I think it only has the one line, though.

Arch, are you talking about David Bowie's "Rebel, Rebel?"   If so, man, that's such a great song!

[Tree]

one of my personal faves - "young james dean" by the band girlyman (if you're interested in gender-folk/gender-pop with country undertones and beautiful harmonies, girlyman is your band!)



I guess I'll feel less than real all my life
With these feathers I made
Under me lifting me up
But I was a young James Dean
With a way with ladies
All the real boys in their black jeans called me crazy

[rexgsd]

someone already posted my fav 'im a boy' by the who ^ ^

but that line in Rebel, rebel, Arch, is "You've got your mother in a whirl, she's not sure if you're  a boy or a girl"


oh but, heres a song that i think is more so ->-bleeped-<-, but could be a transgender song too ;P



about a guy that goes around stealing womans clothes from clothesline and wears them around

[Felix]

This thread is too fun for me not to revive it.

My contribution doesn't deal specifically with gender identity I guess, but it always struck a chord with me on that front:

[Kadri]

How about "Josephine" by Terrorvision?

I had a friend called Joe,
When friends were hard to find,
He had a restless soul,
And something on his mind,
One day I went away,
and then returned to the scene,
Not to find restless Joe no,
But to find Josephine,

I asked her what her game was,
She said Joe had left the scene,
I asked her what her name was,
And she said.......They call me Josephine.

It took a while to click,
But then I got the gist,
The girl by my side,
Was the guy I'd missed,
I took her for a beer,
To talk about old times,
Just to find that beer,
Was now a sweet white wine,

I asked her what her game was,
She said Joe had left the scene,
I asked her what her name was,
And she said.......They call me Josephine.

So we talked all night,
And I just can't pretend,
Although I lost old Joe,
I got a new girlfriend,

I asked her what her game was,
She said Joe had left the scene,
I asked her what her name was,
And she said.......They call me Josephine.
I asked her what her game was,
She said Joe had left the scene,
I asked her what her name was,
And she said.......They call me Josephine.

[Edge]

"Billy Jones" by the Waifs. I can't find a good version of it on Youtube though.

When I listen to "When I Was a Boy" by Dar Williams, I feel like both the girl who says "when I was a boy" and the boy who says "when I was a girl." Is that weird?

[CosmicJoke]

the lead singer actually revealed being transgender.