# Does anyone think Macy Gray can actually sing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178 "2004-09-20T19:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/1 "2004-09-20T19:46:55Z")
Honestly, just let me in on the joke. The whole thing is a “let’s promote someone who can’t hold a tune to the worst contestant on American Idol as a singer” gag. Macy has recently been slaughtering “Walk this Way” on some horrid commericial. I don’t even like the song when Aerosmith sings it, but her version makes Aerosmith sound like a harmonic church choir. I keep trying to find a way to describe her singing, but come up short. Nail on blackboard? No, she doesn’t quite do anything that close to making a musical note. The sound of someone being punched in the stomach while being strangled? Perhaps. It comes closer to describing the airy screeching sound that is her voice. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/2 "2004-09-20T19:54:13Z")
A story about her I once heard: She was a songwriter. She wrote a whole bunch of songs for somebody, who bailed on them at the last minute. They needed someone to sing them. They figure, they’re her songs, let her sing them. Someone heard her singing and decided that she was pretty good. If they think that she’s good, I’d be really afraid of hearing someone they thought was bad. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/3 "2004-09-20T19:56:38Z")
Gray’s voice has the edginess of a blues singer, the warble of a female Louis Armstrong and the laid back sensibilities of neo-soul. Hell, yeah, she can sing. Haven’t heard her sing the Aerosmith cover you’re talking about, but listen to “Caligula,” “I Try”, “I Can’t Wait To Meetchu” from her first album. That said, many people don’t get her, and I can easily imagine mine being a (pardon the unintentional pun) minority opinion. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/4 "2004-09-20T20:00:12Z")
I like her voice. I like it a lot. Of course, I only know two songs: “I Try” and the theme from “Miss Match.” And, I tend to like weird voices. I like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. I like Willie Nelson and Janis Joplin. I like Billie Holliday and Leon Redbone. I like bluegrass and folk (two genres where voices can be a bit on the bizarre side). So yes. I think she can sing. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/5 "2004-09-20T20:02:04Z")
I am a long-time musician, played in a bunch of bands, sing, etc. She can most definitely sing. I am very open to hearing that you don’t like her voice, or that her voice is “an acquired taste,” a la Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Courtney Love, etc. , but she hits the notes, sells the song and stays in tune. Doesn’t mean you have to like the timbre of her voice, and I can certainly hear where somebody might not like her voice, but I do. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/6 "2004-09-20T20:28:35Z")
I, too, like Macy Gray’s voice. And ditto on Leon Redbone. You don’t know Leon Redbone? Just think “A-L-L, Stain Lifter that’s All”. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/7 "2004-09-20T20:38:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anyone think Macy Gray can actually sing? Not I, and neither does the Factotrix. But then again, we like bus fumes. (My thanks to Chuck Barris for that line.) ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/8 "2004-09-20T20:39:04Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I like her voice. I like it a lot. > > Of course, I only know two songs: “I Try” and the theme from “Miss Match.” > > And, I tend to like weird voices. I like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. I like Willie Nelson and Janis Joplin. I like Billie Holliday and Leon Redbone. I like bluegrass and folk (two genres where voices can be a bit on the bizarre side). > > So yes. I think she can sing. Yep, that’s what I was going to say. Thank god not everyone thinks Celine Dion and her ilk are what “good voices” sound like. I’d rather hear Neil or Macy any day over Celine or Mariah or any of the overproduced “divas” that people make such a big deal over. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/9 "2004-09-20T21:36:16Z")
She can certainly sing, - holds a great tune - but her stylized vocals are ‘take it or leave it’ She was quoted in Q magazine as saying, "Clear my throat - lose a career’ so she has a sense of humour about it too. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/10 "2004-09-20T21:51:57Z")
I really like her voice as well. I think she can sing and really (co-)write some great music, “My Fondest Childhood Memories” being a classic IMO. As for the Aerosmith cover, yeah, that’s complete shit. It’s not her voice that makes it bad for me, it’s the complete arrangement. It’s awkward on top of being a song that wasn’t that great to begin with, then co-covered with Run DMC, and now Macy Gray. Let. It. Die. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/11 "2004-09-21T00:25:47Z")
She can actually produce the appropriate pitch when required. In the strictest definition, she can sing along with a tune. Someone above mentioned timbre. That’s a whole 'nuther thang. This dude is NOT a fan of the timbre and any other aesthetic quality of Ms. Gray’s gawdawful excuse for a voice. I’d rather hear phlegm spurt from a tracheostomy (a good approximation for her singing style, actually) than hear “I Try” one more goddamn fucking time. (Slight Hijack: Who here thought at first the lyric was “I blow bubbles” instead of “my world crumbles” due to the fact Macy sings like she needs to hawk a loogie?) ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/12 "2004-09-21T00:34:10Z")
Well, I stand amazed, in these days of “rap” and “hip hop” where the “artists” don’t even _attempt_ to sing and most those who do are so heavily post processed (e.g., Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake) that the concept of vocalist is strained to the point of meaninglessness, at the audacity it takes to suggest that Ms. Gray can’t sing. It’s either audacity, or just sheer ignorance based on exclusive exposure to the neocrapola mentioned above. Go listen to Billy Holliday or Nina Simone, and then tell me Macy can’t sing. :wally ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/13 "2004-09-21T00:43:27Z")
Oh, I see: Billie is Macy without the phlegm. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-think-macy-gray-can-actually-sing/265178/14 "2004-09-21T01:21:21Z")
> [@Blackclaw](#): > > Macy has recently been slaughtering “Walk this Way” on some horrid commericial. Since I generally only listen to the TV on as I do internet stuff I didn’t realize it was her in that commercial. So the first few times I heard it I thought it was a humorous commercial about how bad some people are at karaoke. oops