Songs dedicated to women. Part 1
Содержание
The beautiful half of humanity has always been, is and will be an inspiration for creating masterpieces. And, first of all, this thing applies to the world of music. How many songs dedicated to lovely beauties do you know? Most of the bestsellers of the last century and hits of today were written in honour of specific girls, which, in fact, is evidenced by their names. We decided to make a selection of the most beautiful, melodic and heartfelt sounds, which are dedicated to beautiful ladies with equally beautiful names....
Toto - Rosanna
We all owe this glorious creation to American actress Rosanna Arquette. At the time of writing the track, she was in a warm relationship with Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro. However, the idea to record "Rosanna" came to the mind of the band leader David Paich, who was always in search of a new trend to write a good song. In an interview, the musician explained:
"The composition 'Rosanna' was about my first love in high school, I just decided to label it with another girl's name. At the time, my best friend and colleague Steve Porcaro was dating Rosanna Arquette. I had been searching for a long time for a suitable name for the new song, and her name was just the perfect choice. Delicate, mysterious and very beautiful - it's exactly how I imagined my first love to be...".
Curiously, Porcaro and Arquette broke up after the release of the single. Although this will not be the last time when the blonde beauty met with musicians: in the early 90's the girl had a stormy romance with Peter Gabriel, and in 2007 she met Paul McCartney.
After its release, the song "Rosanna" misled many listeners. Not only was it written by David Paich, but the vocal sound of the song was given by Bobby Kimball, the permanent voice of Toto. For this reason, most of the audience assumed that Kimball was Arquette's ex-boyfriend.
Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue Got Married
Buddy Holly wrote this beautiful composition all alone, not counting his acoustic guitar, of course. The singer was in his flat in New York at the time and wrote his last songs: "Crying, Waiting, Hoping", "That's What They Say", "What To Do" and "Learning The Game". After the rock 'n' roll legend's tragic death, the songs were re-recorded to become the hits we know today. But back to "Peggy Sue."
Whether there really was a Peggy Sue in Buddy Holly's life, or whether her persona was nothing more than a figment of imagination, is still a mystery. In the song "Peggy Sue" (1957), the hero learns that the girl has married. Curiously enough, it was this creation that continued the rock era one of the first. The composition under discussion was posthumously released as a single with "Crying, Waiting, Hoping". Interestingly, it was this single that gave the title to the 1986 film Peggy Sue Got Married, starring Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage. As a background to the film, accordingly, a demo version of the track was used, with Buddy Holly himself singing and playing acoustic guitar. Supplementing the demo with a pleasant melody, the film's producer Jack Hansen created a completely new, unheard-of song. It was the first time in the history of music that a composition was completed and released after the death of the artist himself.
Rod Stewart - Maggie May
The composition "Maggie May" became Rod Stewart's very first international hit. However, few people know that the singer wrote his creation while under the vivid impressions of the delights of adult life... Here is what Stewart shared after the release of the track:
"In July 1961, some friends and I travelled to the south of England to properly relax at the Bewley Jazz Festival. The concert was held on the meadows of Lord Montague's estate - one of the biggest fans of jazz. I was sixteen at the time. That afternoon we sneaked into the festival via a large drainpipe. It was in one of the beer tents that I met her. She was a woman much older than me. She was a typical sexual predator. Word got around and we ended up with her on a secluded lawn."
In the end, "Maggie May" made Rod Stewart the first musician whose work topped four top charts at once. The composition was even included in the legendary list of "500 greatest songs of all time", according to Rolling Stone. Interestingly, the real "Maggie May" has never contacted Rod Stewart again and probably doesn't even know that the musician dedicated the song to her.
The Police - Roxanne
No matter how many people say that a woman of easy behaviour can become an ideal wife, hardly anyone can wish to fall in love with one of them. This is the theme that Sting decided to touch upon in one of his most popular creations with the loud name "Roxanne".
The leader of The Police wrote the composition in 1977, while staying with the other members in Paris. There, the musicians performed at the Nashville club, and afterwards they went to their room in some run-down hotel. He was often surrounded by the "priestesses of love", who - most interestingly - inspired the singer to create a masterpiece. The song speaks on behalf of a man who has lost his head in love with a representative of the oldest profession named Roxanne (Sting borrowed the name from the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" after seeing an advertising poster in the hotel lobby).
The composition was released as a single in 1978, as part of the album Outlandos d'Amour. In the style of a tango, it is a rhythmic and incendiary song, but with a tense thread of drama. Today, the track about the passionate beauty Roxanne is ranked 398th in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Europe - Carrie
This heartfelt piece is known to every fan of rock ballads. Lyrical, tender - the composition "Carrie" makes the listeners dive into personal memories together with Joey Tempest, who performs it... Though it was not included in the list of the best rock ballads of the world, but forever remained a trademark of the Swedish band. The authors of the masterpiece were Tempest himself, the band's permanent vocalist, and keyboardist Mick Michaeli, for whom this composition was the first recording together with the members.
Tempest performs the creation so sensuously that there is no doubt in anyone's mind: there must be an authentic heroine. And so it turned out to be. In an interview, Joey confessed:
"We dated for a while. We were both very young then, wind in our heads and all that... Our break-up seemed to me something comparable to the end of the world. It was only years later that I realised that at a young age it's normal to start a relationship, realise that you're not from the same planet, and keep moving on...".
After the release, a successful music video was shot for the track, which gave the rock team additional rotation on MTV.
Hall & Oates - Sara Smile
The lyric "Sarah, Smile" was written by Hall for his friend Sarah Allen. Her sister, Jeanne Allen, a songwriter and composer known for "Kiss On My List," passed away in 1993. She was 36 years old at the time. The woman had been diagnosed with leukaemia.
In an interview from 2009, the singer confessed:
"'Sara, Smile' is one of my favourite songs. It was a musical card for Sara - a wonderful partner and girlfriend in every sense of the word".
One can imagine how Sarah herself feels to be constantly confronted with this piece. The track is still on a number of playlists today, as well as being widely used in contemporary culture. For example, "Sara, Smile" has been featured on Daryl Hall's own show, Live From Daryl's House.