5 Classic Rock Songs With Women’s Names as Titles
Classic rock songs often feature women’s names as titles. Notably, The Beatles pulled this trick with several of their classic rock songs. In addition, Kiss released a song with a feminine name as its title that originally had a more traditionally masculine name.
5. The Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’
The Beatles gave us “Michelle,” “Julia,” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” However, “Eleanor Rigby” is their best song with this sort of title. Those cold violins had an immense impact on 1960s popular music, as it paved the way for artists like The Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt, and the Bee Gees to start incorporating neoclassical elements into their music.
The lyrics are also great. Over the course of three minutes, fans get a full picture of Eleanor Rigby and her immense loneliness. “Eleanor Rigby” is more like a short story than the average pop song, and it’s a short story that could have been written by one of the canonical authors.
4. Kiss’ ‘Beth’
“Beth” is one of Kiss’ least characteristic songs. It’s the sound of a band moving beyond its usual sound to try something more emotional. While a lot of soft ballads from the 1970s are forgotten, people still remember “Beth” all these years later.
According to Rolling Stone, the song was originally going to be called “Beck.” Gene Simmons worried listeners would think the tune was about Jeff Beck, so the title became “Beth.”
3. The Beach Boys’ ‘Barbara Ann’
The Beach Boys’ hits drew more inspiration from doo-wop music than other classic rock songs from the same era. This is pretty evident on “Barbara Ann,” which is a cover of a doo-wop track by The Regents.
The Beach Boys add some of their trademark harmonies to the song, which makes it superior to the original. Plenty of rock songs are about dream girls, and The Beach Boys make Barbara Ann sound incredible thanks to Brian Wilson’s production.
2. Goo Goo Dolls’ ‘Iris’
1998 gave us City of Angels, a romance starring Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage. It’s a kitschy remake of the German avant-garde film Wings of Desire that ignores the themes of the original in favor of a sort of proto-Twilight with angels.
The best aspect of City of Angels is the soundtrack single “Iris.” It takes some ideas from the film and marries them to a beautiful melody. 1990s soft-rock rarely got this good or this intense. The Goo Goo Dolls were not a hugely successful band, but “Iris” means they’ll always have a legacy.
1. ‘Ruby Tuesday’
The Rolling Stones were bluesy, loose, and mean. Somehow, their best song is a baroque pop ballad that is far more sensitive than most of their material.
“Ruby Tuesday” is about a man saying goodbye to a woman who seemed truly special. While Mick Jagger sounds sad on this song, he also seems to know that Ms. Tuesday will be better off without him. This song is the rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of the ending of Casablanca — bittersweet, devastating, and perfect.
