# Songs about a person who is the same sex as the singer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 21, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405 "2022-03-21T01:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/41 "2022-03-21T22:12:57Z")
Pearl Jam - _Sleight of Hand_ “Routine was the theme He’d wake up, wash and pour himself into uniform Something he hadn’t imagined being” And, of course, _Jeremy_. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/42 "2022-03-21T22:15:44Z")
**JRB** - Jim - The Truth (about M\*\*\*\*\*\* D\*\*\*\*\*) ---
**Author:** ![Miss-Informed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Miss-Informed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss-Informed)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/43 "2022-03-22T17:40:45Z")
Alanis Morrissette - Mary Jane Tom T. Hall - The Year that Clayton Delaney Died Concrete Blonde - Tomorrow Wendy ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/44 "2022-03-24T06:24:49Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Bitch Better Have My Money by Rihanna The bitch in question is a man. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/45 "2022-03-24T06:50:35Z")
Come Together - The Beatles Lido Shuffle - Boz Skaggs The Cisco Kid - War ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/46 "2022-03-24T12:54:11Z")
“[Hymn for a Sunday Evening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5YpJRgdzsI)” from _Bye Bye Birdie_ ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/47 "2022-03-24T14:31:26Z")
A lot of religious songs are about God/Jesus. A lot of men sing songs about God/Jesus (assuming God is male) Gerry Rafferty wrote a song about his mother. The song is Mary Skeffington. Olivia Newton-John did a remake of the song, so she sang a song about Gerry Rafferty’s mother. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/48 "2022-03-24T14:46:21Z")
Jackie Brown - John Mellencamp ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/49 "2022-03-24T15:20:54Z")
Great list! The Kinks _Apeman_ doesn’t really fit though, does it? I remember it being about the singer wanting to be an apeman. The Kinks _Lola_ fits — ambiguously. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/50 "2022-03-24T15:45:43Z")
[JEB LOY NICHOLS - Say Goodbye to Christopher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA5t1TIGiXo) _Yesterday I saw Christopher_ _In a parked car on Ludlow Street_ _Turning around looking over his shoulder_ _Talking to someone in the back seat_ I was walking on the lower east side and suddenly there was a street sign that said “Ludlow Street”. I just stood there, in the rain, and let this song unreel through my head. Jeb usually does more rootsy (Folk/Reggae/Bluegrass/Brass) tunes… here’s one of my favorites. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ESQHWQoYygU/hqdefault.jpg "Jeb Loy Nichols- As The Rain") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESQHWQoYygU) ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/51 "2022-04-02T14:16:13Z")
[Not For Keith](https://www.sofasound.com/phcds/ph7lyrics.htm#6) by Peter Hammill “In Germany, his days finally caught him; I won’t insult his memory with long-distance grief. Tears and wakes weren’t his style: not him, not for Keith.” ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/52 "2022-04-03T21:17:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Bruce Springsteen In 1984, Rick Springfield reached #27 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with a song complaining about people who confused him with Bruce Springsteen: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oW96XddVZTo/maxresdefault.jpg "Bruce - Rick Springfield (1984)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW96XddVZTo) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/53 "2022-04-03T23:29:52Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > [Not For Keith](https://www.sofasound.com/phcds/ph7lyrics.htm#6) by Peter Hammill Another song by a guy about someone called Keith, though I think that’s another Keith than in the Hammill song, because Keef’s days never finally caught him, as we all know this guy’s immortal. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Oybie48BQck/hqdefault.jpg "Ryan Adams -- Song for Keith") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oybie48BQck) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/54 "2022-04-04T00:56:40Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Possibly, **Me and Bobby McGee** , but I haven’t confirmed it yet. According to one lyrics site, Kris Kristofferson’s version referred to Bobby as “she”, and Janis Joplin’s as “he”. This is a thing, possibly even good for a thread unto itself: Songs that had to get the lyrics re-gendered depending on the gender of the singer. Another similar case was “This Old House” (or “This Ole House”) by Stuart Hamblen, but recorded by many others too, including famed female singer Rosemary Clooney. Ostensibly a song about an old decrepit falling-apart house, it is actually about an old widower who is preparing to die, sung in the first person. (The singer compares himself to the old house.) Despite being in the first person, there are some gender-specific references (“This old house once knew my children, this old house once knew my wife.”) In the Rosemary Clooney version, she fixes that by putting the song in the third person instead (“This old house once knew his children, this old house once knew his wife.”) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nstn4Wscl1w/hqdefault.jpg "Rosemary Clooney - This Ole House") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nstn4Wscl1w) ETA: It doesn’t work perfectly. In the original, Hamblen sings “Ain’t gonna need this house no longer, I’m a-getting ready to meet the Saints”. In Clooney’s version, she sings “Ain’t gonna need this house no longer, he’s a-getting ready to meet the Saints” – It’s not clear who “he” refers to. There are many references of “he” in the song, and it’s hard to tell which refer to the old guy, and which refer to the personified house. I never understood that until I learned of the original Hamblen words, which are not ambiguous like that. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/55 "2022-04-05T16:41:20Z")
**Adia** - Sarah McLachlan **Sunny Came Home** - Shawn Colvin **Maria** - Blondie **Rip Her to Shreds** - Blondie ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/56 "2022-04-05T19:08:16Z")
Bat for Lashes - Laura. About a friend who still wants to party, but everyone else has stopped. Beautiful melancholy song. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UznHTBZIa8E/maxresdefault.jpg "Bat For Lashes - Laura") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UznHTBZIa8E) Johnny Cash - a Boy Named Sue Kate Bush - Babooshka ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/57 "2022-04-05T20:03:15Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > “Tweeter and The Monkey Man” by The Traveling Wilburys I am going to quibble. The song is as much about Jan as it is about Tweeter, The Monkey Man or the Undercover Cop. And it seems that Tweeter is trans. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/58 "2022-04-05T20:28:13Z")
“Lucky Man” by Emerson Lake and Palmer ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/59 "2022-04-05T21:48:22Z")
Also “Goo” from the same album. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405/60 "2022-04-05T21:53:08Z")
“Sweet Jane” - Cowboy Junkies version. “Children’s Story” Slick Rick “AJ Scratch” Kurtis Blow “A Shogun Named Marcus” Clutch [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-a-person-who-is-the-same-sex-as-the-singer/961405.md?page=4)