In The Name Of Women

One hundred songs, one hundred women's names. Behind each of them lies a story, a mystery, a love (often only dreamed of, or already over). To celebrate March 8th, we thought we'd gather them all into a mega "open" playlist (open in the sense that it can keep growing, thanks to your suggestions too). These hundred woman recipes, to borrow a phrase from the late Ornella Vanoni, are just a mirror -- at times a somewhat distorted one, refracted through the male gaze -- of a female universe that music has told in the most varied and disparate ways.

Many of these hundred women are obscure or mysterious figures: from the shadowy “Amelia” by the Cocteau Twins to the gothic “Dulcinea” by Black Tape, from the futuristic “Venusia” by Klaxons to the gloomy “Marian” by Sisters Of Mercy, from the enigmatic “Suzanne” by Leonard Cohen, which weaves dreamlike and biblical elements together with sensual impulses, all the way to the entrancing Rio by Duran Duran, dancing on the sand and conjuring up brasileira vibrations. Other times they are mythological or legendary figures (the Persephone of Dead Can Dance, the Ophelia of Natalie Merchant, the Welsh legend of Rhiannon dusted off by Fleetwood Mac, the Venus of Television, invoked via the famous Greek sculpture of the Venus de Milo, the cheerful Cecilia, personification of music, addressed by Simon & Garfunkel), if not figures from history -- the Jackie evoked by Tori Amos, for instance, is none other than Jacqueline Kennedy (“Jackie's Strength”) -- or from showbiz, as in the case of a young Carole King, to whom Neil Sedaka dedicated his “Oh! Carol”, of model Edie Sedgwick, addressed by the Cult's “Edie” by the Cult, or of screen icon Bette Davis, celebrated by Kim Carnes in “Bette Davis Eyes” (but not of Rosanna Arquette, to whom, contrary to popular belief, Toto's “Rosanna” by Toto is not dedicated, even though at the time she was the girlfriend of keyboardist Steve Porcaro).

But most of the protagonists of these songs are ordinary people -- wives, ex-girlfriends, fleeting and occasional lovers -- or purely imaginary figures, born from the fertile minds of their authors.

In the “wives” category we can certainly include what remains perhaps the most beautiful song ever written for one: Bob Dylan's intimate, aching “Sara”, laden with memories and regrets. Among lovers, one of the most famous is undoubtedly Eric Clapton's “Layla”, heroine of Middle Eastern epic, behind whom was hiding Pattie Boyd, at the time the wife of his friend George Harrison. Contrary to popular belief, it is not Angela “Bowie” Barnett hiding behind the Rolling Stones' “Angie” (nor is it actress Angie Dickinson). And speaking of David Bowie: we enjoyed digging up his naive “Letter To Hermione” (1969), addressed to his partner at the time, with whom he also spent three months in monastic isolation with four Tibetan lamas in Scotland (!). “Maggie May”, meanwhile, tells us of the rollicking sexual initiation of a young Rod Stewart.

In many cases these are dreamed-up, mythologized creatures: the dreamlike Julia of a young Roger Waters (“Julia Dream” by Pink Floyd), the “Amanda” longed for by the impatient Boston (“tomorrow may be too late”), the ruby-ringed “Candy-O” of the Cars, the English provincial heroine Eileen of Dexy's Midnight Runners, Bryan Ferry's sensual “Valentine”, the Beatles' “Michelle”, a distillation of French charme worthy of Nouvelle Vague, Donald Fagen's “Maxine”, with whom to travel between Mexico City and Manhattan, the melancholy “Renee” of Talk Talk, the romantic “Josephine” to whom the late Chris Rea addressed all his love, the sweet “Alison” that made Elvis Costello swear “my aim is true”. Or even literary figures, as in the case of the Cure's “Charlotte Sometimes”, inspired by Penelope Farmer's novel of the same name.

In other cases these are somewhat more prosaic characters, like the Parisian prostitute “Roxanne” immortalized by the Police, the punk-rocker Sheena of the Ramones, the groupie Sharona, made immortal by The Knack's riff, the stalker Billie Jean, sketched out by an exasperated Michael Jackson, and the easygoing Josie of Steely Dan, who became “the pride of the neighborhood”.

It's not only men who address women (see Patti Smith with “Gloria”, Suzanne Vega with “Marlene On The Wall”, Bjork with “Isobel”, Marissa Nadler with “Dead City Emily” etc.), and there's even a transgender ode (the famous “Lola” by the Kinks). The only rule we set ourselves -- mainly to keep the selection within limits -- is to choose only one track per female name. And there's also a small Italian chapter, ranging from a few classics of the “genre” (the epic “Margherita” by Riccardo Cocciante, the achingly sweet “Agnese” by Ivan Graziani, the searing “Lilly” by Antonello Venditti) to lesser-known gems, such as “Anna di Francia” by Claudio Lolli and “Ho visto Nina volare” by Fabrizio De André, not to mention the affectionate ode that Francesco De Gregori dedicated to his muse Caterina Bueno (“Caterina”) and the aching letter that Lucio Dalla addressed to a woman not yet born, named “Futura”.

But now all that's left to do is take some time and listen to all one hundred of these songs, “In The Name Of The Women”. To make International Women's Day a little less empty and rhetorical than so many make it out to be.

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07/03/2026