Playlist: 5 iconic lesbian love songs
Hot on the heels of a feature we did on iconic lesbian musicians this month, we would like to share with you our picks for the most iconic lesbian love songs.
Don a pair of headphones, pour yourself a cup of tea, and try to resist the urge to put U-Haul on speed dial.
Lesbian Love Songs: Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover
“That old dog has chained you up, all right”– so begins this Sophie B. Hawkins song about how she pines for and longs to rescue a woman trapped in an abusive relationship.
This pop-rock anthem, from the omnisexual singer-songwriter’s debut album, is undoubtedly sexy- with lines like “I’d rock you ‘til the daylight comes” and “I’ll do such things to ease your pain / Free your mind, and you won’t feel ashamed.” Damn.
Lesbian Love Songs: Constant Craving
It doesn’t hurt that she may be the cutest butch lesbian ever to sing country music, but k.d. lang arguably owes much of her success to this pop crossover hit. It brought her multi-million sales and much critical acclaim.
With its distinctive arrangement and sparse lyrics, the song relies on lang’s pipes to communicate a sense of desperate desire. Aside from two concise verses, most of the song is a repetition of the chorus “constant craving has always been”. The result is hauntingly beautiful.
Lesbian Love Songs: Power of Two
No list of Sapphic love anthems will be complete without this ballad from folk rock duo (and lesbian music icons) Indigo Girls.
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers pulled out all the stops on this one: a sweet melody, earnest lyrics, and lush vocal harmonies. It is a testament to their talents that the song neither gets old nor becomes too saccharine over time.
The song was included in the soundtrack of the 1995 lesbian-friendly feature film Boys on the Side– where Ray and Saliers also make an appearance.
Lesbian Love Songs: If It Isn’t Her
Ani DiFranco’s songs are often political and almost always personal. She identifies as bisexual, and this particular song is her tribute to a girl-crush.
“Standing like John Wayne / she is full framed / She is center stage / and my imagination / is rattling in its cage,” DiFranco sings, and we are suddenly transported back to a more fragile time when such feelings seemed insurmountable.
Lesbian Love Songs: Come to My Window
This was the first song to be released after Melissa Etheridge publicly announced that she’s a lesbian.
The lyrics describe situations that Etheridge is willing to endure for the person that makes her happy (her girlfriend at the time): “I would dial the numbers / Just to listen to your breath / I would stand inside my hell / and hold the hand of death.”
The song is also a bold affirmation: “I don’t care what they think / I don’t care what they say / What do they know about this love, anyway?”
Our list is in no particular order and by no means definitive. Feel free to leave a comment below: what iconic lesbian love songs belong in your top 5?