I saw
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ragingrainbow post this meme earlier today and decided to join in. Most of the music I see tweeted on my feed is bandom, MCR, 1D, or Adam, all guys, so I decided to pick 20 songs I love that are sung by women. These are just 20 I came up with today, since there's so many other songs out there I love, including from many of these artists. Anyway, here they are in no particular order:
1.
Missy Higgins - The Special Two Missy is my favorite singer/songwriter. There are probably 3 songs that she sings that I only like instead of love, but most of her work I adore. I could make a list of 20 just from her music, but I forced myself down to two. The videos I found both happen to be live - and she's great live - but the recorded versions of the songs are gorgeous too. The lyrics of this song are poignant, and the only drawback of this live vid is the missing harmonies
2.
Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts I first heard this song on SYTYCD, and fell in love with it. The show's actually been a great place to discover music. This video gets extra points for including Kathryn and Allison, two of the best dancers from the show
3.
Eva Cassidy - Time after Time This woman had a phenomenal voice, and sang every song she covered with such emotional range. I love so much of what she performed; this is just one of many out there. If you don't know her, check out other YTs of her performances. We lost her all too soon, and the world is diminished without her voice in it.
4.
Cyndi Lauper - True Colors Since I included someone else singing one of Cyndi's songs, I thought it only right to include another one sung by her. Her voice is unique and she's had a number of songs I've loved over the years.
5.
Annie Lennox - Little Bird Another artist I've loved for a lot of years. Annie has such a distinct and powerful voice. Someone made a really creative video to go along with this song
6.
Goldfrapp - Strict Machine There's a lot of stuff that Adam recommends that's really not my taste, but he and I share a similar view in this area. The driving electronica is sexy as hell in a number of these songs(i.e. Ooh La La. Crystalline Green)
7.
Janelle Monae - Tightrope Another kind of beat I love is the totally fun and funky type of beat in a song like this one. This girl is gorgeous with a nice voice, the dancing is mesmerizing and I love the horn section.
8.
P!nk - Glitter in the Air And one more visually appealing video for a song I love to sing along to. This performance impressed the hell out of me. I don't know if they switched from live to recorded once she was spinning, but it doesn't seem as if they did, and i don't know how she did that! :D
9.
Brooke Fraser - Scarlet This is likely an artist not familiar to many outside of NZ. A Kiwi friend of mine exposed me to her music, and although her focus on her faith isn't usually my thing, I do like her music. This one's ethereal
10.
Agnes Obel - Close Watch This Danish artist is offbeat, haunting and minimalistic, using the barest instrumentation behind her vocals. There's something about her strange music that calls to me
11.
Sarah McLachlan - Angel When I saw the movie
City of Angels, I fell in love with its soundtrack. I've included two of the songs here; this one is so much fun to sing along to, as long as I don't have to do it while seeing sad puppies looking at me(animal rescue commercial)
12.
Alanis Moriessette - Uninvited This is the second song from the movie, and the video is based on clips from it. I love the dramatic build to the song, and it's another one that's great to belt out along with the artist.
13.
Kimbra - Plain Gold Ring And we're heading back down to my favorite land of NZ with this next artist. People have heard her voice on Gotye's current overplayed song, but I really love her jazzy style. There's a video for another song - Settle Down - that's well worth a watch. I love the way she builds the song as she goes here, with total immersion in the music
14.
Ingrid Michaelson - The Chain This singer/songwriter is from my area of the world, and her music has been used on a number of TV shows, like Grey's Anatomy, which is where I think I discovered her(I love whoever picks their music, and what a cool job). This song is one of my favorites of hers because of the way the rounds layer over each other later in the song.
15.
Sarah Bareilles - Gravity Another song that is strongly connected to the show SYTYCD. The routine that Mia Michaels choreographed to it is my all time favorite routine, and breaks my heart every time I watch it. The song is able to recall that for me whenever I listen to it
16.
Indigo Girls - Closer to Fine I love this duo, and especially love how much fun it is to sing along to the songs, sometimes on the melody, but often taking the harmony. The harmonies of their songs, as well as their lyrics, are what draw me to a lot of their music.
17.
Fleetwood Mac - Landslide This is one of my favorite groups out there, and this song fits my female performer theme. I have loved this song for many, many years - it's timeless and beautiful, and another one that is lovely to sing along to.
18.
Sade - Sweetest Taboo This performer has the smoothest voice I think I've ever heard, and I absolutely love its buttery tone. This song has a wonderful beat and breezy feel; always makes me feel good
19.
Adele - Hometown Glory OK, OK, I know Adele has been played to death on radio, but this song is not from her current album, rather from her debut album, 19. I loved her and this song long before a lot of the US knew she existed, and while I do also love(if can't listen anymore) 21, this one remains on my songs I love list.
20.
Missy Higgins - Sound of White And full circle back to my favorite artist Missy Higgns. Once you get past the flat first line of this performance, it becomes the emotionally devastating song that brings me to tears more often than not. She pours her soul and her heart into her writing and her performing. She's got a new album out now, and has already added to the songs I could include in a 'songs I love" list.
You can hear more of Missy's songs here, including some from the new album:
http://soundcloud.com/missy-higgins ~v~
