I’ll Tell Me Ma was mentioned above, this song like a lullabye or nursery rhyme and is sung by men/women/girls/boys in Ireland. Irish traditional songs are often done this way. Some singers will change “I wish I wish I wish in vain, I wish I were a maid again” to “youth again” in Love is Pleasing but many don’t.
The Sally Gardens is often sung by women without changing the gender of the lover.
The Lowlands Of Holland, sung from a war widow’s perspective has been done many a time by men. There are countless others. I think it has a nice effect, sometimes lending a complexity to songs they might not otherwise have and also adds even more homoeroticism to Irish balladry.
The Butchies did a cover of “Your Love,” originally by Outfield, without changing the gender. Of course that was intentional, but it’s still vastly superior to the original.
Tori Amos covers the Stones’ “Angie” without changing the genders, obviously. You really couldn’t.
Patti Smith does a great cover version of Van Morrison’s "Gloria’, which doesn’t specifically mention the gender of the singer, but is obviously sung at the POV of someone who’s aroused by a female.
I think she did but I’ll check when I get home. She definitely did not on her cover of Sweet’s “AC/DC” (JJ&TB video featuring Carmen Electra, yum).
She also didn’t on her cover of “Do You Wanna Touch Me” by Gary Glitter. There’s only one line that identifies the singer by gender (“I’m a natural man, doin’ all I can”) and that’s unchanged.
Sixpence None the Richer didn’t change “There She Goes” to “There he Goes” when they covered the song by the La’s.
Kate Bush covered Rocket Man for “Two Rooms: Celebrating the songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin” without gender bending. “I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife…”
I used to have this great CD that was all old 30s and 40s standards (which were tradionally sung by women) sung by men without pronoun changes. It was marketed as a gay CD but I think most of the recordings were because it was illegal to change the lyrics lyrics without the songwriters permission. (I do not have a cite for this tho’) I wish I could find it again, it was really interesting.
Stand By Your Man: doesn’t Lyle Lovett do a cover?
Dunno about Lyle Lovett, but the Blues Brothers sure did!
Erasure did a cover of “River Deep, Mountain High” that begins, When I was a little girl I had a rag doll…
It’s Andy Bell so I’m not even sure it counts…
Kidding! Kidding!
Well, “For Me and My Gal” lyrics are from a man’s point of view, so it was actually Judy who sang it “off gender”. In the movie, she was (mostly) harmonizing to Gene Kelly’s lead, if I recall correctly…
I don’t think this one is particularly gender specific. I always thought of it as a father’s sentiments as his son goes off to war or something. In fact I can’t remember hearing it sung by a woman.
Sorry I don’t have any to add myself. At the gay piano bars I used to hang out in, of course, it was *de rigeur * for some guy to sing “The Man I Love” or “He Was Too Good To Me” (with the irresistible line “I was a queen to him, who’s gonna make me gay now”). I understand that the SF Gay Men’s Chorus has been known to sing these kinds of songs as well.
Roddy
Nope. The author intended it to be sung by a woman, and even had a version called “Eily Dear,” for male vocalists.
Joni Mitchell.
I was a free man in Paris I felt unfettered and alive…
Has anyone else ever wanted to hear a female cover of “A Boy Named Sue”?
I don’t think Joni’s version was a cover–I think she wrote and recorded it originally. You’re right that with those lyrics, it’s a little odd for a woman to write and sing though.
The song was about David Geffen, and the lyrics recount a conversation he was having with her.
The opening line of the song, “The way I see it,” is Geffen talking to her, so the “I” throught the song is Geffen.
Oops, you’re right. :smack:
According to this page,
I guess she wrote the lyrics as if Mr. Geffen was the person speaking.
Oops again, I see that Labdad beat me to it.
I need to go to bed. 