# Songs about the Oldest Profession
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 2, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312 "2013-05-02T15:07:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/1 "2013-05-02T15:07:41Z")
I’ve been listening to Broadway a lot on my SiriusXM, and started noting there are quite a few songs about prostitutes. Some include:
The triumphant [“My Body”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-ckNG_hyTY) from **The Life**
The dark and depressing “[Lovely Ladies](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UeMhr9QaSs)” from **Les Miserables.**
In rock, there’s “The House of the Rising Son” by the Animals (the song is older, and was originally written for a woman singer, giving it a different meaning).
What else?
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### Author:  [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/2 "2013-05-02T15:10:03Z")
_Roxanne_, by The Police
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### Author:  [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/3 "2013-05-02T15:12:26Z")
Iron Maiden had an ongoing story line:
Charlotte the Harlot
22 Acacia Avenue
Hooks In You
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/4 "2013-05-02T15:16:19Z")
_Maggie Mae_, Rod Stewart is supposedly about a prostitute.
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### Author:  [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/5 "2013-05-02T15:20:37Z")
Bonnie Raitt’s “Louise.”
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/6 "2013-05-02T15:22:00Z")
Wow, I actually know an answer to a question in a song thread! 🆒
Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls”.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/7 "2013-05-02T15:22:23Z")
_Rio_ by Duran Duran
look, if it wasn’t me it would be someone else. Deal with it.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/8 "2013-05-02T15:23:16Z")
“Fire Down Below” Bob Seger
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/9 "2013-05-02T15:26:13Z")
“Fancy” by Reba McIntyre.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/10 "2013-05-02T15:29:08Z")
_Kathusalem_. It’s in _The Dirty Song Book_ - oh, and [here](http://www.horntip.com/html/songs_sorted_by_name/with_music/k/kathusalem.htm), g’bless the web - along with others that mention or feature prostitutes.
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### Author:  [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/11 "2013-05-02T15:29:48Z")
“Whores,” Jane’s Addiction
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/12 "2013-05-02T15:31:33Z")
[Top 10 Songs About Prostitutes](http://media.gunaxin.com/top-ten-songs-about-prostitutes/52285):
1. Lady Marmalade
2. Bad Girls
3. Sweet Georgia Brown
4. Killer Queen
5. Island Girl
6. Hot Child in the City
7. Charlotte the Harlot
8. Call Me
9. On Broadway
10. All the Young Girls Love Alice
Going back farther is the Andrew Sisters" “Rum and Coca-Cola.”
And I see [“Greensleeves”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensleeves) may originally have been about a prostitute: **“One possible interpretation of the lyrics is that Lady Green Sleeves was a promiscuous young woman and perhaps a prostitute. At the time, the word ‘green’ had sexual connotations, most notably in the phrase ‘a green gown’, a reference to the way that grass stains might be seen on a woman’s dress if she had engaged in sexual intercourse out of doors.”**
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/13 "2013-05-02T15:31:44Z")
_La Grange_ by ZZ Top
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### Author:  [@hiebram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hiebram)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/14 "2013-05-02T15:31:49Z")
_Wrong Way_, by Sublime.
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### Author:  [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/15 "2013-05-02T15:34:18Z")
Hang On Sloopy (Extended version only) by the McCoys
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### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/16 "2013-05-02T15:34:21Z")
[Tecumsah Valley](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWoVnvl9aYc) - Townes van Zandt
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/17 "2013-05-02T15:35:48Z")
Candle in the Wind
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/18 "2013-05-02T15:37:13Z")
Cole Porter’s Love for Sale
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### Author:  [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/19 "2013-05-02T15:41:11Z")
I got one, [Three Wooden Crosses by Randy Travis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZQY9TJa4_o)
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### Author:  [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-the-oldest-profession/657312/20 "2013-05-02T15:41:21Z")
Simon and Garfunkle’s The Boxer
Asking only workman’s wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there
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