The Woman Songwriter

Essay: "Female Identity and the Woman Songwriter"
Author: Charlotte Greig


    In this chapter Greig focuses on women songwriters not as a genre, but in the common experiences that distinguish them as distinctively women.  She acknowledges that just as lumping men songwriters into a unified voice that has the same experience and outlook is impossible--so it is also for women.  The content that sets apart the experience of women are the topics of motherhood and childbearing.  These are not commonplace in pop music but Grieg shows how they have been evident in songwriting through the ages as well as becoming more prevalent in mainstream. The genres the author discusses are 17th century British folk music, American Country music, The Folk Revival, the counterculture of the 60's and 70's, and the Pop Mainstream.  While how each of the women have different takes on motherhood and childhood, each woman has to respond to how they fit in relation to each of those; whether they will be a mother, marry, or stay single is a decision each woman has to make.  Grieg states, "Even the women songwriters who want nothing to do with the domestic scenario feel impelled to explore their relation to it. This commonality in the woman experience is what the author wanted to demonstrate as the thread that ties women songwriters together.  


Joni Mitchell sings a song called "Number One."  While it is not a direct comparison of being single or being married with children.  It definitely juxtapositions her life against one of domesticity by saying,

Oh there must be more to living
Than a mortgage and a lawn to mow

and then

People want your autograph 

When you're a winner! 

  In the Country music genre, the band Lonestar has a song that speaks specifically of fatherhood.  I think being a father is just as unique as being a mother, although I'm not entirely sure how.  But I thought that bringing the topic of fatherhood into the discussion could help better understand the distinction the author is talking about.

This song is entitled "In the Morning" by Anika Moa.  It is about an abortion she had and her grief.  I think it hints at the choice she had to make between her career and her child.

Discussion Questions:


1. What experiences are unique to men? Are there any more experiences besides childbearing and motherhood that are unique to women?


2.  Grieg states, "It sometimes seems that in rock, the more radical and rebellious the artist's adolescent pose, the more conventional and trite their adult writing eventually becomes."  Can you think of other artists that embody this statement? Male or Female? 


3.  Why do you think the British folk song, while in the 17th century, was more accepting and freeing for the woman than the more contemporary Country song?  I would think that the 17th century would be more conservative and condemning, however, it was not portrayed that way. The father was furious and the girl was proud, while the in Country song, father was in addition ashamed as was the girl.  Do you agree or not?  Explain your thoughts.