Name That Tune: Songs Named After Girls

Hey Idiots! It's Monday and that means it's time to drag yourself out of bed, wake the kids, and gather around the campfire for another week of Name That Tune, delicately put together by @kelly_cheese. As always, you can find a Spotify playlist of all 12 songs from this week's NTT at the bottom of the article.

Today's topic is all songs that have a woman's name on it. So think of Jolene by Dolly Parton (which is not on this list but could have been). Without further ado, here are this week's songs and some background on each song.

Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac

Kelly's background information for this song actually blew my mind and made me realize I have not been paying close enough attention to this song. Been too distracted on the bass, can you blame me?

"The title of this song is the name of a Welsh goddess. According to myth, she is the goddess of fertility and the moon, she shuns a god and marries a mortal man. That god then frames her for the murder of her son, and she is forced to stand at the entrance to a city and tell everyone entering that she killed her child."

 

 

Roxanne by The Police

I recently started watching Friends, and while I have not seen this episode, I can totally hear "Ross-can" in the beat of Roxanne.

On the 2001 Friends episode "The One With Monica's Boots," Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Ross (David Schwimmer) sing this as "Ross-Can" as he tries to secure tickets to this bands concert.

Angie by The Rolling Stones

This one is a bit scandalous...

The big rumor about this song is that it was written about David Bowie's wife, who claimed she once walked in on Bowie and this bands lead singer in bed together - a story this lead singer denies. According to the rumor, the lead singer wrote this song to appease her, but it was actually the bands lead guitarists who wrote this song and it’s said it’s about his daughter - who shares the same name as David Bowie’s wife.

Lola by The Kinks

Personally, I'm a big fan of this one. I love a song with a good twist.

This song is about a guy who meets a girl in a club who takes him home and rocks his world. The twist comes when we find out that the girl in the club is really a man.

 

Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) by Looking Glass

I, like many others, fell in love with this song when it played in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in 2017. There's just this very playful feeling to it that makes you feel you're at sea and understand the pull the man has for not staying Brandy.

This song plays a big role in the 2017 film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where it plays in the opening scene, a flashback to before the lead character, Peter (Chris Pratt), was born. When Peter reunites with his father, Ego (Kurt Russell), the song comes to represent their conflict, as Ego wants Peter to help him rule the universe. To convince his son, he quotes the song, explaining that world domination is Peter's destiny, as was the sea for the sailor who left Brandy behind.

My Sharona by The Knack

M-m-m-myyy Sharona saw a truly unexpected resurgence in 2020 for all the wrong reasons. Doesn't matter, the song is still ridiculously catchy and I see no issue with them getting their bag.

This song saw notable sales and streaming gains in March 2020 amid growing global concern over the coronavirus outbreak. The reason? Simply that the song title rhymes with "Corona."

Help Me, Rhonda by The Beach Boys

This song has a lot of the same words in it. How many is a lot? Let's find out:

This song's title appears in the song 41 times; the words “help”” appears 61 times, “help me" appears 43 times; the name in the song title appears 45 times.

Melissa by The Allman Brothers

I think we've all been here before: you reach a fork in the road and sell your soul to the devil. Oh. Just me? Noted.

The part of the song that begins: "Crossroads, will you ever let him go" is probably a reference to Robert Johnson, a blues legend who supposedly went to a crossroads and sold his soul to the devil.

My Maria by Brooks & Dunn

This song took quite a journey, finding success twice from two different bands in two different decades.

This is a country cover of a B.W. Stevenson song, originally released in the 70’s. The original song was called Shambala, three dogs knight covered the song two weeks after it was released. Then they changed the song title from Shambala, to this female name and it became an ode to a beautiful woman. This country band covered it in 1996 and it was a huge country hit, going to #1 and being named by Billboard as the Country Song of the Year.

Sherry by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

You know that scene from Back to the Future, where Marvin called his cousin Chuck to tell him that he found that sound he's been looking for? For some reason, that's how I picture this interaction happening.

This was originally called "Terry." The group loved it and performed it over the telephone for their producer, Bob Crewe, who liked everything about it but the name. After considering "Jackie" (after Jackie Kennedy), and "Peri" (after a record label Bob Crewe had a stake in), the group changed the name of the song to “THIS,” after the daughter of one of Bob Crewe's best friends, a DJ named Jack Spector.

 

Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett

Mustang Sally was kind of a girlboss for this little move of hers. Enjoy your new whip, girlie.

This song is about a girl who lives a wild life in her brand new Mustang car. The singer bought her the car, which transformed her into "Mustang Sally," and now she's running around town, paying little attention to her sugar daddy. Pickett warns her that she needs to slow it down with one of the great threats in soul music history: "Guess I have to put your flat feet on the ground!"

 

Run Around Sue by Dion & The Belmonts

Give a girl a flower, and she'll stick around. Give a girl your heart, and she runs away. Noted.

This band said this song is about the girl who loves to be worshiped but as soon as you want a commitment and express your love for her, she runs away. So the song was a reaction to that kind of woman.

 

Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's

When I was growing up, this song had a CHOKEHOLD on the radio, and I think it made me a more emotionally in-touch person as a result because my heart broke for this relationship. Sorry Delilah...

 

The song tells the story of a girl and a boy in a long distance relationship who talk about their future plans - she’s a thousand miles away in New York City, in two more years she’ll be done with school and he’ll be making history.

 

Maria, Maria by Santana

I had no idea this song was based on West Side Story, though after I listened to it through this new lens, I feel like a total fool for not picking up on this when it was staring me right in the face. Oh Maria, Maria.

This song is loosely based on the play West Side Story, where the main character has moved to East LA and become a big fan of THIS MUSICIAN. She dreams of making the world a better place and has won the heart of the singer.

 

And that was Name That Tune for February 5th, 2024! Today's song collection would make a sick playlist to listen to in a row, so do yourself a favorite and check it out.