Songs that Neil sings avowedly using a female lyrical persona
Neil sings a number of PSB songs from a feminine perspective, adopting a female lyrical persona. This list attempts to document such songs, although it includes just those for which Neil has expressly stated at one time or another that the narrator is female when he sings them. So it does not count tracks that:
- haven't been officially released;
- might readily be interpreted as having a female narrator but Neil has never acknowledged singing them with a feminine persona in mind;
- largely concern a female character but for which Neil himself doesn't adopt such a persona in the lyrics (two of many examples being "Disco Potential" and "Somebody Else's Business");
- were avowedly inspired by something a woman said or by some incident in a woman's life, but the lyrics of which may not necessarily be written from her perspective (such as "I Made My Excuses and Left" and "Invisible")—unless, of course, Neil has stated that they were; or
- were written with a female singer in mind but which Neil himself has never sung in an officially released version (this disqualifies those officially unreleased Closer to Heaven demos) or, if he has sung it in a released version, the lyrics nevertheless also lend themselves to a masculine persona and Neil hasn't said that when he sings it, the lyrical narrator remains female.
In other words (regarding this last point), keep in mind that though a song may have been written originally with a female singer in mind, it doesn't necessarily mean that when Neil sings it, he retains the female persona. For instance, consider "Nothing Has Been Proved," originally sung—or at least first released—by Dusty Springfield. Just because it was originally sung by a woman doesn't mean that when Neil sings it the narrator is still female. (If anything, the narrator of that song seems to be omniscient, essentially devoid of gender.) In such cases, I would list the song here only if Neil has said that when he sings it, he's indeed singing from a feminine perspective.
Given those perhaps convoluted restrictions (at least they make sense to me), here, in alphabetical order, are the songs that make the cut:
- Baby
- Beautiful People
- A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi
- Footsteps
- For Your Own Good
- I Want a Lover
- I'm Not Scared
- A New Life
- Pandemonium
- The Performance of My Life
- Rent
- So Sorry, I Said
- Vulnerable
I should also note that Neil said in the booklet accompanying the 2017 reissue of Fundamental that "Fugitive" is written from the perspective of the sister of a terrorist. But the very next year, in his 2018 book One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem, he wrote that it's told from the perspective of the terrorist's brother. So it would appear in that case that the possible femininity of the narrator isn't a significant factor, if it's even a factor at all.
To be honest, the list isn't as long as I thought it would be. So I suspect I've missed a few. If you're aware of any others,
—but remember, before I can add a song to this list, I need evidence that Neil has actually said he's singing from a female perspective.
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