"Seneca Falls" by The Distillers was a pretty big deal to me when I was 15.
Now? Eh. It's pretty simplistic.

Keep Ya Head Up, Tupac Shakur...

"And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it's time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don't we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies, that make the babies
And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up"

While I tend to balk at the possessive term, "our women", I feel that lyrics as vehemently pro-choice, that call for social change towards women... well, I'm willing to look past those semantics.

Offhand, I love "Stick It To The Pimp" by Peaches. I just really hate when people emulate the pimp image so this song makes my heart smile.

Patti Smith - "Rock 'n Roll Nigger".

"Rebel Girl" by Bikini Kill, "Standing In the Way of Control" by The Gossip, "6'1"" by Liz Phair, and from Ani Difranco, "Face up and Sing," "Letter to John," and...well let's just say all of Out of Range to be safe.

There's also a lot of songs I wouldn't necessarily call feminist, but would label pro-women or personally empowering.

Real Men by Tori Amos and Not a Pretty Girl by Ani Difranco.

Or anything else by either of those two.

Oh and Skin by Beth Hart and This Woman's Work by Kate Bush, that one reminds me of my mama!

Peggy Seeger's "I'm Gonna be an Engineer" is wonderful stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCRRe72mwwY

Peggy Seeger's "I'm Gonna be an Engineer" is wonderful stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCRRe72mwwY

Nothing by Sleater-Kinney?! Here are just a few of my favorites:

- Ballad of a Ladyman ("I could be demure/like girls who are soft for/boys who are fearful of getting an earful/but I gotta rock!")

- #1 Must Have (a song about the degradation of riot grrl culture into "girl power")

- Prisstina (Should you trust that old Prince Charming/You know he never did you any good/
But have yourself a ball, Prisstina, do all the things I would!")

Not a Pretty Girl by Ani DiFranco...but really anything by Ani.
(I saw her last night at Symphony Hall in Boston, and it was AMAZING. It was my first time seeing her (I went with a friend who had seen her 6 times before) and it may have been the best concert I've ever been to...)

And I'm adding this because I don't think anyone else will, and even though it's not overtly "feminist" per se, it's basically women flipping off the world:
Not Ready to Make Nice, by the Dixie Chicks

!!!!!FOR EVERYONE INTO FEMINIST PUNK:

I saw a lot of Distillers, and here's some lesser known awesome female punk bands:

Horrorpops (Check out: Thelma and Louise)

Lunachicks (Check out: Badass Bitch)

Soviettes (Check out: Multiply and Divide)

Tilt (SERIOUSLY CHECK OUT: Minister of Culture, "his teeth are flashing as he demands, no human rights apply here, our women will agree, our property has spoken, no cause to intervene")

Also, I was on my way to work this morning and had UNITY playing, these girls on the corner started dancing to it. Made me happy.

Been a fan of feministing for a very long time- thanks so much for this amazing blog!! I just couldn't resist commenting on this topic. Has anyone ever heard "Ladylike" by Storm Large & the Balls?? AWESOME.
"What the f**k is ladylike, if ladies like to do what the f**k they like, just like you?"

In Goliath, by the Mars Volta, the protagonist calls for the death of the man who drugged her and raped her. It's the fifth track on an album that consistently follows that theme. Cedric Zavala, the lead singer, has spoken out against misogyny and sexism on several occasions.

Here's vid if you want to see it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPvCz2xuVJo

Not a Pretty Girl by Ani DiFranco (along with everyone else. but that song! it is awesome) and Patriarch on a Vespa by Metric

Jesro, I remember that song from when I was very little, but it was Pete Seeger who sang it (at the time, thanks to my folky parents, I thought Pete Seeger and Woodie Guthrie were top-of-the-charts recording artists.)

Not spot-on feminist, but this weekend my good friend closed out her karaoke birthday party (attended by many of her fellow professional singers/musicians, and the rest of us) with Tracy Chapman's Revolution. This inspired a 40-person sing-along with woops and hollers celebrating Obama, and the few conservatives slinking out of the room. It was awesome.

I can't pick just one! I guess my top 2 are "FYR" by Le Tigre and "Step Aside" by Sleater-Kinney. Or, really, anything by them...I have a little S-K/Kathleen Hanna shrine in my apartment. LOL.

Also, I wrote my Master's thesis on Riot Grrrl so Bikini Kill will always have a special place in my heart!

"As Cool As I Am" by Dar Williams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TywZyET3ktY

"Video" by India Arie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXEE7Pi6iQ

Every song on Bikini Kill's first EP, hands down!

A lot of Ani DiFranco.
A lot of Jean Grae (obsessed with her)- even though its not outwardly feminist all the time.

"Glass Ceiling" by Metric- I've always loved the line Every speed on our knees is crawling

"Suggestion" by Fugazi- why can't i walk down a street free of suggestion? is my body the only trait in the eye's of men? and
we don't want anyone to mind us
so we play the roles that they assigned us
she does nothing to conceal it
he touches her 'cause he wants to feel it
we blame her for being there
but we are all guilty

I'm trying not to mirror anyone's picks, also being an Ani, Sleater-Kinney & Bikin Kill fan.

So I pick:

She by Green Day
Not Ur Average Girl by India Aire
Not Just Boys Fun by 7 Seconds
It Takes More by Ms Dynamite
Never is a Promise by Fiona Apple
One Girl Army by Five Iron Frenzy

And, of course: Sister Suffragettes from Mary Poppins! Anyone?!!

(I know there's so many more, but I'm drawing bit of a blank...)

"Thank God I'm Pretty", by Emilie Autumn.

See here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwmKqZGORm8

She's quite an outspoken feminist and writes a lot about issues affecting women on her forum.

Oh, and she does a charming cover of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun".

Huge props to the folk mentioning Peaches - my personal favourite is probably "Tent In Your Pants" (which was amazing live, when I saw her).

I highly recommend this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tJ3SWo9PIg
The Perfectionists playing "Not a Rock N Roll Girl" at Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls in Brooklyn this past summer. Those girls are all around 14 or 15 years old.

"Girl Anachronism," by The Dresden Dolls

I love a lot of these but the first one that leapt into my mind is old-school fantastic--I Am Woman!

Someone said these but...
Not a Pretty Girl - Ani DiFranco
Real Men - Tori Amos

and...
Me and a Gun - Tori Amos

I have to put my vote in for Dolly Parton's Touch Your Woman. One of her ULTRA greats that few people know about. Tis a freaking fab tune to ask feminist musicians to cover, they can make a few changes to the nouns (let go of 'man' and use 'one') and create a gender/SO inclusive feminist love song. During the seventies a number of country radio stations refused to play it because they found it too sexually suggestive. here are the lyrics:

We can't always both be right
We sometimes disagree
But you've got the right to speak your mind
An' it's the same with me
When the anger's at an end
And you want inside my arms again
All you have to do to make it right is just

Touch your woman
Touch your woman
Everything's gonna be alright
Touch your woman
Touch your woman
Let me know, let me know everything's alright

There are times when I should be strong
When I'm awfully weak
When the sudden blows of life have brought me to my knees
Woman needs a helpin' hand
Needs someone to understand
Needs the man/one she loves to help her stand, so

Touch your woman
Touch your woman
Everything's gonna be alright
Touch your woman
Touch your woman
Let me know, let me know everything's alright

And when the busy day is done
You lay by my side
You know exactly what it takes to keep me satisfied
You know exactly what I need and I always go to sleep in peace
Thanking God that you belong to me, so

Touch your woman
Touch your woman
Everything's gonna be alright
Touch your woman
Touch your woman
Let me know, let me know everything's alright

When I was younger, I found Sarah Jones' song Your Revolution a very powerful feminist statement. Here's an excerpt:

Your revolution will not find me in the backseat of a jeep
With LL hard as hell
You know, doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well
You know, doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well (nah come on now)

Your revolution will not be you smackin' it up
Flippin' it, or rubbin' it down
Nor will it take you downtown or humpin' around
Because that revolution will not happen between these thighs

Your revolution will not have me singing
"Ain't no nigga like the one I got"
And your revolution will not be you sending me for no drip, drip VD shot
And your revolution will not involve me feelin' your nature rise
Or helping you fantasize
Because that revolution will not happen between these thighs
No no, not between these thighs

Oh, my Jamaican brother, your revolution will not make you feel
Bombastic and really fantastic
And have you groping in the dark for that rubber wrapped in plastic

You will not be touching your lips to my triple dip of french vanilla, butter pecan, chocolate deluxe
Or having Akinyele's dream, (mm hmm)
A 6-foot blowjob machine (mm hmm)
You want to subjugate your queen? (uh-huh)
Think I'm a put it in my mouth just cuz you made a few bucks?
Please brother please

Your revolution will not be me tossing my weave
And making me believe I'm some caviar-eating ghetto mafia clown
Or me giving up my behind, just so I can get signed
And maybe having somebody else write my rhymes
I'm Sarah Jones, not Foxy Brown
You know I'm Sarah Jones, not Foxy Brown

Your revolution makes me wonder, where could we go
If we could drop the empty pursuit of props and ego
We'd revolt back to our Roots, use a little Common Sense
On a quest to make love De La Soul, no pretense

But your revolution will not be you flexing your little sex and status
To express what you feel
Your revolution will not happen between these thighs
Will not happen between these thighs
Will not be you shaking and me (*yawn*) faking
Between these thighs
Because the real revolution
That's right I said the real revolution
You know I'm talking about the revolution
When it comes, it's gonna be real
It's gonna be real
It's gonna be real

When I was younger, I found Sarah Jones' song Your Revolution a very powerful feminist statement. Here's an excerpt:

Your revolution will not find me in the backseat of a jeep
With LL hard as hell
You know, doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well
You know, doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well (nah come on now)

Your revolution will not be you smackin' it up
Flippin' it, or rubbin' it down
Nor will it take you downtown or humpin' around
Because that revolution will not happen between these thighs

Your revolution will not have me singing
"Ain't no nigga like the one I got"
And your revolution will not be you sending me for no drip, drip VD shot
And your revolution will not involve me feelin' your nature rise
Or helping you fantasize
Because that revolution will not happen between these thighs
No no, not between these thighs

Oh, my Jamaican brother, your revolution will not make you feel
Bombastic and really fantastic
And have you groping in the dark for that rubber wrapped in plastic

You will not be touching your lips to my triple dip of french vanilla, butter pecan, chocolate deluxe
Or having Akinyele's dream, (mm hmm)
A 6-foot blowjob machine (mm hmm)
You want to subjugate your queen? (uh-huh)
Think I'm a put it in my mouth just cuz you made a few bucks?
Please brother please

Your revolution will not be me tossing my weave
And making me believe I'm some caviar-eating ghetto mafia clown
Or me giving up my behind, just so I can get signed
And maybe having somebody else write my rhymes
I'm Sarah Jones, not Foxy Brown
You know I'm Sarah Jones, not Foxy Brown

Your revolution makes me wonder, where could we go
If we could drop the empty pursuit of props and ego
We'd revolt back to our Roots, use a little Common Sense
On a quest to make love De La Soul, no pretense

But your revolution will not be you flexing your little sex and status
To express what you feel
Your revolution will not happen between these thighs
Will not happen between these thighs
Will not be you shaking and me (*yawn*) faking
Between these thighs
Because the real revolution
That's right I said the real revolution
You know I'm talking about the revolution
When it comes, it's gonna be real
It's gonna be real
It's gonna be real

Crass-Bata Motel!!

I've got 54321,
I've got a red pair of high-heels on,
Tumble me over, it doesn't take much,
Tumble me over, tumble me, push.
In my red high-heels I've no control,
The rituals of repression are so old,
You can do what you like, there'll be no reprisal,
I'm yours, yes I'm yours, it's my means of survival.

I've got 54321,
Come on my love, I know you're strong,
Push me hard, make me stagger,
The pain in my back just doesn't matter.
You force-hold me above the ground,
I can't get away, my feet are bound,
So I'm bound to say,
That I'm bound to stay.

Well today I look so good,
Just like I know I should,
My breasts to tempt inside my bra,
My face is painted like a movie star,
I've studied my flaws in your reflection
And put them to rights with savage correction,
I've turned my statuesque perfection
And shone it over in your direction.
So come on darling, make me yours,
Trip me over, show me the floor,
Tease me, tease me, make me stay,
In my red high-heels I can't get away.
I'm trussed and bound like an oven ready bird
But I bleed without dying and won't say a word.
Slice my flesh and I'll ride the scar,
Put me into gear like your lady car,
Drive me fast and crash me crazy,
I'll rise from the wreckage as fresh as a daisy.
These wouds leave furrows as they heal,
I've travelled them, they're red and real,
I know them well, they're part of me,
My birth, my sex, my history,
They grew with me, my closest friend,
My pain's my own, my pain's my end.
Clip my wings so you know where I am.
I can't get lost while you're my man.
Tame me so I know your call,
I've stabbed my heels so I am tall,
I've bound my twisted falling fall,
Beautiful mute against the wall,
Beautifully mutilated as I fall.
Use me don't lose me.

I've got 54321,
I've got a red pair of high-heels on.
Strap my ankles, break my heels,
Make me kneel, make me feel.
Turn, turn, turn, like a clockwork doll,
Put in your key and give me a whirl.
Tease me, tease me, the reason to play,
In my red high-heels I can't get away.
I'll be your bonsai, your beautiful bonsai,
Your black-eye bonsai, erotically rotting.
Will my tiny feet fit your desire?
Warped and tied I walk on fire.
Burn me out, twist my wrists,
I promise not to shout, beat me with your fists.
Squeeze me, squeeze me, make me feel,
In my red high-heels I'm an easy kill.
Tease me, tease me, make me see,
You're the only one, I need to be me.
Thankyou, will you take me?
Thankyou, will you make me?
Thankyou, will you break me?
Use me don't lose me,
Taste me, don't waste me.
Use, lose, taste, waste.

When I was younger, I found Sarah Jones' song Your Revolution a very powerful feminist statement. Here's an excerpt:

Your revolution will not find me in the backseat of a jeep
With LL hard as hell
You know, doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well
You know, doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well (nah come on now)

Your revolution will not be you smackin' it up
Flippin' it, or rubbin' it down
Nor will it take you downtown or humpin' around
Because that revolution will not happen between these thighs

Your revolution will not have me singing
"Ain't no nigga like the one I got"
And your revolution will not be you sending me for no drip, drip VD shot
And your revolution will not involve me feelin' your nature rise
Or helping you fantasize
Because that revolution will not happen between these thighs
No no, not between these thighs

Oh, my Jamaican brother, your revolution will not make you feel
Bombastic and really fantastic
And have you groping in the dark for that rubber wrapped in plastic

You will not be touching your lips to my triple dip of french vanilla, butter pecan, chocolate deluxe
Or having Akinyele's dream, (mm hmm)
A 6-foot blowjob machine (mm hmm)
You want to subjugate your queen? (uh-huh)
Think I'm a put it in my mouth just cuz you made a few bucks?
Please brother please

Your revolution will not be me tossing my weave
And making me believe I'm some caviar-eating ghetto mafia clown
Or me giving up my behind, just so I can get signed
And maybe having somebody else write my rhymes
I'm Sarah Jones, not Foxy Brown
You know I'm Sarah Jones, not Foxy Brown

Your revolution makes me wonder, where could we go
If we could drop the empty pursuit of props and ego
We'd revolt back to our Roots, use a little Common Sense
On a quest to make love De La Soul, no pretense

But your revolution will not be you flexing your little sex and status
To express what you feel
Your revolution will not happen between these thighs
Will not happen between these thighs
Will not be you shaking and me (*yawn*) faking
Between these thighs
Because the real revolution
That's right I said the real revolution
You know I'm talking about the revolution
When it comes, it's gonna be real
It's gonna be real
It's gonna be real

Crass-Bata Motel!!

I've got 54321,
I've got a red pair of high-heels on,
Tumble me over, it doesn't take much,
Tumble me over, tumble me, push.
In my red high-heels I've no control,
The rituals of repression are so old,
You can do what you like, there'll be no reprisal,
I'm yours, yes I'm yours, it's my means of survival.

I've got 54321,
Come on my love, I know you're strong,
Push me hard, make me stagger,
The pain in my back just doesn't matter.
You force-hold me above the ground,
I can't get away, my feet are bound,
So I'm bound to say,
That I'm bound to stay.

Well today I look so good,
Just like I know I should,
My breasts to tempt inside my bra,
My face is painted like a movie star,
I've studied my flaws in your reflection
And put them to rights with savage correction,
I've turned my statuesque perfection
And shone it over in your direction.
So come on darling, make me yours,
Trip me over, show me the floor,
Tease me, tease me, make me stay,
In my red high-heels I can't get away.
I'm trussed and bound like an oven ready bird
But I bleed without dying and won't say a word.
Slice my flesh and I'll ride the scar,
Put me into gear like your lady car,
Drive me fast and crash me crazy,
I'll rise from the wreckage as fresh as a daisy.
These wouds leave furrows as they heal,
I've travelled them, they're red and real,
I know them well, they're part of me,
My birth, my sex, my history,
They grew with me, my closest friend,
My pain's my own, my pain's my end.
Clip my wings so you know where I am.
I can't get lost while you're my man.
Tame me so I know your call,
I've stabbed my heels so I am tall,
I've bound my twisted falling fall,
Beautiful mute against the wall,
Beautifully mutilated as I fall.
Use me don't lose me.

I've got 54321,
I've got a red pair of high-heels on.
Strap my ankles, break my heels,
Make me kneel, make me feel.
Turn, turn, turn, like a clockwork doll,
Put in your key and give me a whirl.
Tease me, tease me, the reason to play,
In my red high-heels I can't get away.
I'll be your bonsai, your beautiful bonsai,
Your black-eye bonsai, erotically rotting.
Will my tiny feet fit your desire?
Warped and tied I walk on fire.
Burn me out, twist my wrists,
I promise not to shout, beat me with your fists.
Squeeze me, squeeze me, make me feel,
In my red high-heels I'm an easy kill.
Tease me, tease me, make me see,
You're the only one, I need to be me.
Thankyou, will you take me?
Thankyou, will you make me?
Thankyou, will you break me?
Use me don't lose me,
Taste me, don't waste me.
Use, lose, taste, waste.

There's a song called "Feminist", but I'm blanking on the singer. I'm trying my best to find it.

Also, "The Womyn United" by Ubaka Hill

"They" by Jem:

Who made up all the rules
We follow them like fools
Believe them to be true
Don't care to think them through
...
And it's ironic too
Coz what we tend to do
Is act on what they say
And then it is that way
...
Who are they
And where are they
And how can they possibly
Know all this
Who are they
And where are they
And how can they possibly
Know all this
...
Do you see what I see
Why do we live like this
Is it because it's true
That ignorance is bliss
...
And who are they
And where are they
And how can they
Know all this
And I'm sorry so sorry
I'm sorry we do this

"They" by Jem:

Who made up all the rules
We follow them like fools
Believe them to be true
Don't care to think them through
...
And it's ironic too
Coz what we tend to do
Is act on what they say
And then it is that way
...
Who are they
And where are they
And how can they possibly
Know all this
Who are they
And where are they
And how can they possibly
Know all this
...
Do you see what I see
Why do we live like this
Is it because it's true
That ignorance is bliss
...
And who are they
And where are they
And how can they
Know all this
And I'm sorry so sorry
I'm sorry we do this

"FYR" - Le Tigre
Ten short years of progressive change,
Fifty fuckin years of calling us names.
Can we trade title nine for an end to hate crime?
RU-486 is we suck your fuckin dick?
One step forward, five steps back.
One cool record in the year of rock-rap.
Yeah we got all the power getting stabbed in the shower
And we got equal rights on ladies nite.
Feminists we're calling you.
Please report to the front desk.
Let's name this phenomenon.
It's too dumb to bring us down.
F.Y.R. Fifty years of ridicule. F.Y.R take another picture.....
Mrs. Doubtfire on mother's day.
On-the-job stalker for equal pay.
Toss us a few new AIDS drugs as national healthcare bites the dust.
While you were on vacation black people didn't get reparations.
You know these days no one's exploited.
Sorry dude can't hear ya with my head in the toilet.
Feminists we're calling you.
Please report to the front desk.
Let's name this phenomenon.
It's too dumb to bring us down.
F.Y.R Fifty years of ridicule. F.Y.R. take another picture......
You've really come a long way baby.
It's you, not the world, that's totally crazy.
Cuz we rocked the fuckin vote with election fraud in poor zip codes.
Celebrate gay marriage in Vermont by enforcing those old sodomy laws.
One step forward five steps back.
We tell the truth they turn up the laugh track.
Feminists we're calling you.
Please report to the front desk.
Let's name this phenomenon.
It's too dumb to bring us down.

"Go" and "Trouble" (among others) by the Indigo Girls, "When I Was a Boy" and "The Easy Way" by Dar Williams, "Furious Rose" by Lisa Loeb, "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" by Sarah McLachlan, "Sweet Lullaby" by Brenda Weiler ... "Free Girl Now" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. :)

Anything by Shannon Murray from the riotfolk collective ( http://www.shannonmurray.com/ ), but especially daughter (http://www.shannonmurray.com/audio/SHANNON_MURRAY-Daughter-3.mp3 ) and Girl Enough: A feminist anthem ( http://www.shannonmurray.com/audio/SHANNON_MURRAY-Girl_Enough_A.mp3 ). Download and have a listen. They're awesome :)

Who's That Girl by Robyn - a rejection of all the qualities that supposedly make up a "good girl"

You guys have got to listen to Mirah.

GIRL by Robots in Disguise is awesome and has a fabulous video in which they take on their real-life boyfriends in giant robots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES672S-XdJ0

Also, Our Daughters Will Never Be Free by The Indelicates. http://www.myspace.com/theindelicates

Wicked old throw-back, but Reddy Helen - I am Woman (we pumped that jam all the way to our soccer game last night).

Bikini Kill - I like F*cking
X Ray Specs - Oh Bondage! Up Yours!
Christina Aguilera - Can't hold us down (cheesy, I know)
Eurythmics - Sisters are doin' it for themselves

And of course, pretty much anything Ani.

Looooove RiD.

D'you remember White Town, "Your Woman"? Not so much of the Let's Go Kick Ass variety, but if you go to his website, he talks about the song being kind of an exploration of gender. He's a cool dude, White Town.

"It's Obvious" and "Diet" by the Au Pairs! Most of their songs are explicitly feminist -- "Repetition," "Kerb Crawler," "Ideal Woman," "Armagh" and plenty more -- but I think those first two are some of their best. (The former begins: He works the car, she the sink; she's not here to think.)

There're a lot of feminist-tinged gems among the other usual late 70s/early 80s suspects, among which my favorite is the Raincoats' "Off-Duty Trip."

Also, I second "U.N.I.T.Y." and would add her "Ladies First," too.

Beth Hart's Sick

I love Beth Hart anything, but this song just seems just kick ass...

I beg your attention
from my generation
this is all your fault
you feed me distractions
& sell misdirections
this is all your fault

The blind are tying to lead the way
It's time someone had something to say
but nothing changes we're all strangers
faces in the crowd
if these are the choices we get from our voices
then you can count me out

chorus:
Lay me down Over the Ocean Where the good life still exists
Lay me down Under the Covers Cause this life makes me
Sick

We're alienated suppressed and sedated
this is all your fault
Don't want compensation from your hate corporation
this is all your fault

The lost are trying to lead the way
The cost is left for us to pay
but nothin' changes we're all strangers faces in the crowd
If these are the choices we get from our voices then
you can count me out

(chorus) repeat

I beg your attention
from my generation
This is all your fault
I am not discouraged
or the slightest bit nervous
You've been voted out

Oh oh oh...Love love love this song

Sara Bareilles "Fairytale"

Cinderella's on her bedroom floor
She's got a
Crush on the guy at the liquor store
Cause Mr. Charming don't come home anymore
And she forgets why she came here
Sleeping Beauty's in a foul mood
For shame she says
None for you dear prince, I'm tired today
I'd rather sleep my whole life away than have you keep me from dreaming

[Chorus:]
'cause I don't care for your fairytales
You're so worried about the maiden though you know
She's only waiting on the next best thing

Snow White is doing dishes again cause
What else can you do
With seven itty-bitty men?
Sends them to bed and calls up a friend
Says will you meet me at midnight?
The tall blonde lets out a cry of despair says
Would have cut it myself if I knew men could climb hair
I'll have to find another tower somewhere and keep away from the windows

[Chorus]

Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom
Man made up a story said that I should believe him
Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight
But I don't want the next best thing
So I sing and hold my head down and I break these walls round me
Can't take no more of your fairytale love

[Chorus]

I don't care
I don't care
Worry bout the maiden though you know
She's only waiting spent the whole life being graded on the sanctity of patience and a dumb
Appreciation
But the story needs some mending and a better happy ending
Cause I don't want the next best thing
No no I don't want the next best thing

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man -Aretha Franklin

Ladies First -Queen Latifah

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man -Aretha Franklin

Ladies First -Queen Latifah

OK, "feminist" probably isn't the best word to describe this song, but it's such a queer-positive, affirming and basically people positive song, I have to mention "Fagette" by Athens Boy's Choir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ayyPzuHGNU

To me, many of The Long Blondes' songs are really powerful and make me feel confident as a woman - for example, Once And Never Again and Separated By Motorways.
Also The Gossip - Fire with Fire.

This is my first comment - I suddenly felt the urge to tell you what a great discovery feministing was for me. It's one of my daily sources of information now. Keep up the awesome work!

I have been looking for a thread like this! Now I can update my iTunes!

I love sooo many by P!nk (often the ones not played on the radio) such as
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
U + Ur Hand
Long Way to Happy
Conversations with my 13-Year Old Self

I started listening to her music when I was about 15, and she has inspired me ever since!

Don't know if I'd call them explicitly feminist but these songs examine masculinity and it rarely is addressed in popular culture.

Beastie Boys - Song For The Man
What makes you feel
And why you gotta be
Like you got the right
To look her up and down
What makes this world
So sick and evil
I know you don't know

What makes you feel
Like you got miracle whip appeal
Who made you the judge an jury
Ain't you never heard of privacy
What makes this world
So sick and evil
You figure it out

Smoke or Fire - Breadwinner

The road to hell is paved
with good intentions.
That's the path that brought me here.
You sell your soul for roles you take and
then you have to look into the mirror.

So feed us cancer. Give us drugs.
Sell us half-ass educations so we can pick
a job to pay the rent.

Forget your dreams and
what they may have meant
to you in your youth.
Find a bride and raise the kids.

Teach them from mistakes that you have made.
Are we predestined or just well trained?
Invent a god and place the blame for all
this hurt you feel. And on,
and so on. It feels sometimes
so scripted like your life is out of your hands.

A fixed lottery we'll never win.
Not everybody wants to be the angry one
to sacrifice and make a change,
but everybody wants to find a better way.
I search for that for you.

These things that you love will leave.
We'll bury friends and family.
With these lonely feelings I think of you.
In my selfishness I waste away.

Act your age and be a man.
With these lonely feelings I think of you.
And I brace myself.
And it breaks my heart to see
you do this all by yourself.

I've sworn so many times
this year I'll turn things around.
Don't ever let your daughter love
a passionate man, because I hate
myself for missing all the times
I promised you.

Latterman - The Biggest Sausage Party Ever
There are reasons to talk about it.
This patriarchy we live in (i see it everyday).
Who's in the front row finger pointing?
Is the gender ratio in bands disappointing?

The female struggle inspires me.
Inspires me to struggle with my own internal battle.
I know the two don't compare.
Don't call me white.
I don't know what it's like
But i'll support you in any way i can.

Let's look around.
If we haven't let's start today.
Let's pay attention to the oppression
In the things we say.
And the oppression in the things we think.
And the inhuman robots they taught us to be.

We are all guilty.
But i won't let this song end like this.
Cause i know if we try we can de-internalize.
Help create the world we need someday.
As i walk through the back
The problems seem evident.
No matter what is told to me.
I'm part of the problem.
You're part of the problem.
I'm part ot the solution.
Let's both be part of the solution.
And honesty's a start.
Let's pay attention to the things we think and say.
Admit to ourselves.
This is not a perfect place today.

Roxanne Shante - Brothers Ain't Shit - this is borderline but I think it's a good song about street harassment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNiN78CMSTM

Green Day has a few off "Dookie" which are pretty feminist, I think. I always heard "Coming Clean" as being about coming out as gay. "She" is about abusive relationships from a woman's perspective, and I think "Pulling Teeth" is about a man in an abusive relationship.

Alix Olson's poetry often has musical support and is awesome!

How about Rachael Sage's "Sistersong"?:

Everybody’s looking over your shoulder
Seems they can’t wait to hear what’s next
Everybody’s saying she’s lookin’ older
Could it be there is a cruel subtext to

All this endless adulation
All this reckless infatuation and

I will stay with you tonight in
Case this corset gets too tight and
I will keep you company cause
That’s what a sister should be

So they said it was the year of the woman
I believe it was the year of sex
Maybe this’ll be the year of the human
Maybe that would be a bit complex for

All these endless aberrations
From meaningful expectations and

I will stay with you tonight in
Case this corset gets too tight and
I will keep you company cause
That’s what a sister should be

Everybody’s lookin’ under your mattress
Seems they cant wait to find that pea
Maybe you were never quite the princess
Everybody was afraid you’d be and

All these endless presentations
Must affect your concentration so

I will stay with you tonight in
Case this corset gets too tight and
I will keep you company cause
That’s what a sister should be

check it grrrls:

for lesbian feminists (super gothic irony): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV-TsdJgSug

for gender fucking peaches: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcKMg7eEjj8

UK punk feminist satire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyXGblps64M

because polly is perspicaciously perfect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A83JorcLaU

CWA for femmes (with long teleological narrative): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLXM2sJ0Qxw

pure sex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsG-eN96fVc

critique of modern mass plastic music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3Z7eXi-pys&feature=related

I can't let this one go without mentioning my favorite 60's feminist song, from the New Haven Women's Liberation Rock Band.

"The Abortion Song"
Free our sisters
Abortion is our right...

Classic.

Also love Vienna Teng's "Shasta (Carrie's Song)" and Ben Folds' "Brick" - not really feminist songs, just abortion songs.

I think I'm an abortion song-philiac. And I'm okay with that.

-Amanda

oh, anything by Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls), but in this case, Ampersand off her new solo album "Who Killed Amanda Palmer?".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33j1HZIdskY

paradoxical but pertinent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUmQf6rIB2w

HOT TOPIC||LE TIGRE

"Hunter" by Dido.

"Can't Hold Us Down" by Christina Aguilera.. It's funny because she is so not my genre of music, but I have a lot of love for her because a lot of her songs are very positive and about empowerment. And it's great when an artist so mainstream tackles double standards. I think the song got a good amount of attention.

I like "Just a Girl" by No Doubt, too, as far as more mainstream songs go.

Definitely "Face Up and Sing" by Ani Difranco. I was also at her concert at Symphony Hall last night, Spirina! My fifth time seeing her and my sister's first-- worth it every time! I adore her!

Feminism is For Everybody (With a Beating Heart and Functioning Brain) by Anti-Flag.

Man hating, job stealing, god defying lesbians
There is no truth to your fucking ignorance
So fuck the king's men
We're all the people's feminists
We won't put your patriarchal systems back together again

[Chorus]
This is what a feminist looks like
This is what a feminist sounds like

So you sit back counting all your pain staking loses
You grovel, your as backwards as the thoughts in your head..

[Chorus]
This is what a feminist looks like
This is what a feminist sounds like

Refuse to be a victim of this gender warfare

Don't even get us started on assholes
who still think it's ok to call
inanimate objects gay
and are quick to call you a fag...
homophobes FUCK OFF!!!!!

You can listen to it here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NRoJJVuYQ4

Joan Osborne- "Right Hand Man" and "Dracula Moon"

"No Man's Woman" by Sinead O'Connor, "I Am Not My Hair" by India.Arie, and anything by Garbage.

In the time capsule...

Eurythmics--

Sisters are doin it for themselves

Video duet Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDQE4UMVhEQ

Bikini Kill "Suck my left one!"
Yay!

and also Fugazi "Suggestion" for being a great feminist song, but also it's badass bass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIywtO0OY78

"Why can't I walk down a street free of suggestion?
Why can't I walk down a street free of suggestion?
Is my body my only trait in the eyes of men?
In the eyes of men

I've got some skin
You want to look in
I've got some

There lays no reward in what you discover
You spent yourself, boy
Watching me suffer
Suffer your words, suffer you eyes, suffer your hands
Suffer your interpretation of what it is to be a man

I've got some skin
You want to look in
I've got some

She does nothing to deserve it
He only wants to observe it
We sit back like they taught us
We keep quiet like they taught us

He just wants to prove it
She does nothing to remove it
We don't want anyone to mind us
So we play the roles that they assigned us

She does nothing to conceal it
He touches her 'cause he wants to feel it
We blame her for being there
But we are all here
We are all
GUILTY!"

I can't believe no one has mentioned PJ Harvey yet! Sure, she says she's not a feminist, but plenty of her songs are explicitly feminist. "Dress" and "Sheela-Na-Gig" are the two most obvious ones, I think. "Snake," "Me-Jane," and "Hair" do an excellent job reimagining various legends/stories from the woman's point of view.

We Will Rise Lyrics
by Arch Enemy

That's for all my fellow metal heads out there. The lyrics could be feminist, most likely not. I give credit to the lead singer, she broke into a male dominated genre with a angry and coarse sound that anyone hardcore could rock out to. Respect.

I love many of the ones listed here, but I just wanted to add another awesome feminist female artist who's less well-known. A lot of Noe Venable's album "Boots" is, if not yay women! feminist (not that songs like that aren't awesome too), about a lot of the issues that women deal with in their daily lives. My favorite is probably Prettiness, which looks at the tensions that sometimes arise between wanting to be respected for your good work and be seen as a potential girlfriend.

I wrote a blog post about it here: http://shalottianshards.wordpress.com/2008/11/08/media-to-savor-noe-venable/

And check out all of Noe's music! She rocks!

Although the lyrics aren't specifically feminist, this song just oozes girl power to me:

Jill Scott, Hate On Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw3Z8Oa7E3Y

just had to say that I agree: almost anything by Ani, several songs by Dar Williams, and a personal favorite: "This Town is Wrong" by The Nields.

I love this thread. I'm going to go broke on iTunes tonight!

"Feminism is for Everyone (With a Beating Heart and a Thinking Brain)" by Anti-Flag

When I was saving to buy my 1st electric guitar (a 2nd-hand Gibson SG Special, Pete Townsend's model), the guys @ the music store told me "somebody would teach me how to play" (I'd had years of playing the unamplified kind but I guess girls used to get a special kind of amnesia around pickups and amps, like the way our wombs used to come loose and go wandering around if we played sports). The only woman I'd ever seen holding an electric guitar was June Millington, the lead guitarist for Fanny. I got to meet her and still have my autographed copy of "Fanny Hill", which has their versions of "Ain't That Peculiar" and "Hey Bulldog" and was recorded @ Abbey Road (!) I don't relate to most women who make the "Women in Rock" lists. Some of them are OK, they're just not what I like. Most of the women who've sold a lot of product have been pretty, with pretty voices, and not too challenging. Madonna wasn't challenging the status quo, and most of the women in successful bands like Fleetwood Mac were just present as band members--which is fine. It's just not Wonder Woman status. The Bangles were pretty good, IMHO, and Bonnie Raitt really can play. As far as feminist songs, though, it's some other kind of music. Has ARETHA's version of "Respect" been mentioned? The women who sound strong to me are Carlene Carter (daughter of June Carter Cash,step-daughter of Johnny Cash) and Barbra Streisand.

I guess this counts- (it's awesome):
Love is Blind by EVE

Excellent choice on that Crass song! Pretty much all of that album fits.
Here's a big favorite, really simple and really powerful:

Dog Faced Hermans, "Lie and Swell"

"If memory serves me well,
we used to go out into the fields
and lie and swell.
Quite openly we swole,
until we grew so big
the boys would see us
and want to touch us.
Sometimes we'd let them.
More often
we swole so big that
they grew frightened,
picked up their things
and ran away,
leaving us gently
resting in our size."

Wow! All the songs I thought of have been mentioned already!
Awesome on the Suffragettes Song from Mary Poppins, as well as all the Ani songs.

but no one has mentioned this one yet- and I've always loved the kick-@$$ message it has.

Tracy Bonham- Behind Every Good Woman

"Dont ask where shes going dont ask where shes been
Behind every good woman lies a trail of men."

Glory Box
It's a Fire

Both by the incomparable Portishead.

A lot of great stuff has been mentioned including several of the ones I thought of, but hey, that's how it goes.

One very important song that hasn't been mentioned and which I think you'll all dig is Digable Planet's pro-choice jazz-rap "La Femme Fatale".

Truly one of the most original and intelligent groups in hip hop ever.

Lauryn Hill - I Get Out
(http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/laurynhill/igetout.html)

Le Tigre - Tell You Now
(http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/letigre/tellyounow.html)

MIA - Bird Flu "when I get fat I’ll pop me out some leaders"
(http://www.miauk.com/bird-flu-lyrics.html)

Jill Scott - Golden
(http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Golden-lyrics-Jill-Scott/C1DE9E87405B9BA848256F1000080CC1)

These are some of the songs I listen to when I want to feel powerful. They work every time.

Androgynoel by FDA, a tribute song to my favourite androgynous sex symbol, Noel Fielding - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2DkpNAJt67o

Also:
Stinkmitt - Bangin' on my Clit
Anything by The Gossip, Sleater-Kinney or Le Tigre
Kim Kadiri - All My People (not explicitly feminist but awesome nonetheless)

Maybe I'm not kosher in suggesting this one... It was made famous by a man.

But hearing this song made some things I always felt clear to me:

"Woman is the Nigger of the World" by John Lennon and Yoko Ono...

"We insult her everyday on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she’s young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb"

B.M.F.A. - Martha Wainwright ("I will not pretend, I will not put on a smile, I will not say I am alright for you...whoever you are...you bloody motherfucking asshole...")

If You Want Me - The Swell Season ("If you want me, satisfy me...I'll do what you ask me, if you'll let me be free...")

She's Got Her Ticket & At This Point in My Life - Tracy Chapman

In the Springtime of His Voodoo/Icicle/Black Dove/Cruel - Tori Amos (almost anything by T, really)

I am no heroine by Ani Di Franco is one of her best songs but it doesn’t seem to be up on youtube. (I’m fairly sure all these other songs are on youtube though if you’re interested in hearing them).

Limp, Get Gone, and Fast As You Can by Fiona Apple. She has this gloriously angry, deep, jazz-like voice. I adore Love Ridden too but that isn’t particularly feminist.

My Lady’s Story, You Are My Sister, For Today I am a Boy, and Man is the Baby by Antony & The Johnsons. Antony has this beautiful, haunting, androgynous voice that makes the simplest song so meaningful. Hope there’s Someone isn’t especially feminist, but it is gorgeous.

Samson by Regina Spektor. “You are my sweetest downfall, I loved you first”. Spektor’s voice is a little bit r&b, a little bit jazz and a little bit classical.

All the Wild Horses by Ray Lamontagne. A feminist song sung in his deep, husky, bluesy male voice. The entire album, Trouble, is brilliant.

Hot Topic - Le Tigre
Hell anything by Le Tigre!

Big Lou - Stop Hitting Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uxelkNOoM0

oh ani, of COURSE. i like "my I.Q" a lot for the raw way she talks about herself, her identity, her body (and by extension, women's selves, identities, bodies).

also, i LOVE alanis morissette's "21 Things I Want in a Lover" -- damn right, women should have standards that their partners should meet. No settling for any of us!

fiona apple's "extraordinary machine" is pretty good, too.

What no Santogold?

Santogold - Creator
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AXpZi4I4G7k

Santogold - Creator Video Shoot (never released)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1JtmeXL8-iI

"Got no need for the fancy things
All the attention that it brings
Tell me no, I say yes, I was chosen
And I will deliver the explosion

Can't say it's gonna get me far
Do no good to say what you are
I run the streets and I break up houses
River runs deep and the flame devours it

Me, I'm a Creator
Thrill is to make it up
The rules I break got me a place
Up on the radar
Me, I'm a Taker
Know what the stakes are
Can't roll it back, it's understood
Got to play our cards

Sit tight I know what you are
mad bright but you aint no star
polish up til you make it gleam
your M.O, I know what you mean
Tail ridin' and I know it's true
while they screamin' I love you
Down deep you know there aint no flow
a soul decay, was D.O.A

I know what you here for now
Words out you're an idea whore though,
now don't you crush on me
I'll see you in your pipe dreams
whether or not you know it's true
You're who they dictate to
That shit must hurt real bad
fakin' what you wish you had

Here all the folks come ask about me
Band wagon, know they used to doubt me
Blind side tend to hit real hard
you should heed the warning, get a body guard

Steady friction in this bitch
Creepin' in just like an itch
so far I got the last laugh
still the rich rise up, still I live fast
wouldn't know it face to face
Got no soul and got no taste
Moving in speed up the pace
I got it locked though, what a waste

All the talk is standard fare
Walk the walk if it gets you there
on the grind til the gig is up
Im 'a smash 'em down
put a muzzle on them like "what!""

Maybe not explicitly Feminist... but it's about defining your own identity and thinking for yourself, something which I think is pretty central to all the causes supported by this website :3

Loving all the music posted so far!

"Superwoman" by Alicia Keys is becoming the anthem of my Women's Studies department office.

And although Janet Jackson herself may not be considered a feminist icon, her song "New Agenda" certainly is feminist/womanist.

also the Dixie Chicks- "Not Ready to Make Nice." It's awesome that female country singers refuse to play to the same stereotypes of men and women so often seen in country music.

"Dogma" by KMFDM

Not really a feminist song, but this is a 'spoken word' piece by guest contributor, Nicole Blackman, who as far as I know, is a feminist.

All we want is a headrush
All we want is to get out of our skin for a while
We have nothing to lose because we don't have anything
Anything we want anyway...
We used to hate people
Now we just make fun of them
It's more effective that way
We don't live
We just scratch on day to day
With nothing but matchbooks and sarcasm in our pockets
And all we are waiting for is for something worth waiting for
Let's admit America gets the celebrities we deserve
Let's stop saying "Don't quote me" because if no one quotes you
You probably haven't said a thing worth saying
We need something to kill the pain of all that nothing inside
We all just want to die a little bit
We fear that pop-culture is the only culture we're ever going to have
We want to stop reading magazines
Stop watching T.V.
Stop caring about Hollywood
But we're addicted to the things we hate
We don't run Washington and no one really does
Ask not what you can do for your country
Ask what your country did to you
The only reason you're still alive is because someone
Has decided to let you live
We owe so much money we're not broke we're broken
We're so poor we can't even pay attention
So what do you want?
You want to be famous and rich and happy
But you're terrified you have nothing to offer this world
Nothing to say and no way to say it
But you can say it in three languages
You are more than the sum of what you consume
Desire is not an occupation
You are alternately thrilled and desperate
Skyhigh and fucked
Let's stop praying for someone to save us and start saving ourselves
Let's stop this and start over
Let's go out - let's keep going
This is your life - this is your fucking life
We need something to kill the pain of all that nothing inside
Quit whining you haven't done anything wrong because frankly
You haven't done much of anything
Someone's writing down your mistakes
Someone's documenting your downfall

adina howard- "freak like me", tbh

i'm not sure if this hasbeen mentioned as i don't have tuime to read all of the comments but FYR by Le Tigre, bloody fantastic

This One's For the Girls- Martina McBride

This one's for all you girls about thirteen
High school canbe so rough, can be so mean
Hold onto, on to your innocence
Stand your ground when everyone's giving in

This one's for the girls

This is for all you girls about twenty-five
In a little apartment, just trying to get by
Living on, on dreams and spaghetti-o's
Wondering where you life is gonna go

This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holding back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This one's for the girls

This is for all you girls about forty-two
Tossing pennies into the Fountain of Youth
Every laugh, laugh line on your face
Made you who you are today

This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holding back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This one's for the girls

Yeah, we're all the same inside (same inside)
From 1 to 99

"Your Revolution" by Sarah Jones

Just Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCZxepRgMlo&feature=related

Really? No mention of Joan Jett? Not even one?

Bad Reputation is, like, at the top of my list.

OH OH OOOOOOH! Munchausen by No Bra. Fucking hilarious and references riot grrrl and Kathleen Hanna. And very very very very weird. You have been warned.
myspace.com/nnobra

I don't know if anyone's said it already but "A Real Man" by Sleater-Kinney -- totally one of my faves! The beginning of this clip was the best I could find:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVoiHVT5h2U

"don't you wanna feel it inside
they say that it feels so nice
all girls should have
a real man
should i buy it? i don't wanna

i don't wanna join your club
i don't want your kind of love
i don't wanna join your club
i don't want your kind of love

if you had it in your thighs
you'll see that it feels so nice
"you wait, you'll cum every time"
i'm not that dumb
i don't wanna

i don't wanna join your club
i don't want your kind of love
i don't wanna join your club
i don't want your kind of love

don't you wanna feel it inside
they say that it feels so nice
all girls should have
a real man
should i buy it? i don't wanna"

And of course, "Just A Girl" by No Doubt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygqew4RxIg8

It's got to be "I am Woman" by Helen Reddy. I remember singing it with my mom when I was really, really young.

Le Tigre's Hot Topic is on the top of my list

I AM WOMAN!

Hence, my user name :)

I AM WOMAN!

Hence, my user name :)