MIXTAPE: Hymns to Her (from Him)

Theme: Songs of praise and adoration for women, from men

Rules for Hymns to Her (From Him):

• The song must be an ode to a specific woman (as opposed to the female species in general).
• The lead vocals must be performed by a man.
• The man must express a certain sense of worship from afar, or at least an “I-can’t-believe-I-got-her”-ness, when singing about the woman.

Rules for every mixtape:

• The length of the mixtape must not exceed 90 minutes. (At least with a digital playlist we don’t have to concern ourselves with dividing the list into two less-than-45-minute sides. But we still have our standards.)
• Only one song per artist.
• I must like the song. No matter how apropos the song, it’s not going on the mixtape unless I would actually want to listen to it over and over.
• Each mixtape must, if at all possible, conclude with a great movie quote.

And lastly just to clarify: the numbers next to each song are not a ranking, but a track listing. The order of the tracks is very important in the creation of a great mixtape.

So without further ado, I bring you…

Hymns to Her (From Him)

1. Rio – Duran Duran
2. I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles
3. Face Dances Part Two – Pete Townshend
4. Something in the Way She Moves – James Taylor
5. My Best Friend’s Girl –The Cars
6. She’s Got A Way – Billy Joel
7. Oh, Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison
8. Certain Kinda Girl – The Producers
9. Bony Moronie – Larry Williams
10. Somebody’s Baby – Jackson Browne
11. 11-6-64 – Steven Curtis Chapman
12. My Girl – The Temptations
13. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic -- The Police
14. Brick House -- The Commodores
15. Sussudio – Phil Collins
16. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
17. Peg – Steely Dan
18. Harriet – from So I Married An Axe Murderer*

*Warning: This poem has mildly offensive language.

Selected commentary:
Rio – At first you think, “I can’t believe she’s starting off with Duran Duran.” But then you realize you won’t be able to get the “Doo doo doo doo, de doos” out of your head for the rest of the day. Plus it has a great intro.
Face Dances Part Two – One of the four great modern pop songs featuring a non-traditional time signature (5/4). The other three of course are Sting’s “Seven Days” and “Straight to My Heart” (both also 5/4) and Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” (7/4).
Bony Maronie – This was one of the pet names my dad—who has impeccable taste in music, btw—called me when I was growing up.
11-6-64 – I usually don’t include CCM artists in my mixes, but this little gem is a pure pop confection.
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic – Just might be the perfect song. “Do I have to tell the story of a thousand rainy days since we first met?”
Brick House – What a winning hand, indeed.
Sussudio – Don’t pretend you didn’t love this song when it came out in the mid-80’s. I used to have a Betamax recording of a Phil Collins appearance on Letterman, where the two of them did a skit about where Collins got the name for this track.
Brown Eyed Girl – My senior year in high school I dated this really great guy. And then I did him wrong: I broke up with him abruptly, but then wanted to continue to keep him close by. (I know. I’m so sorry.) He had some friends who played in a cover band. They were headed off to college soon, so we went to their last rehearsal together. As they were closing it down, the singer asked, “Any last requests?” My guy shouted, “Brown Eyed Girl”! Being the loyal friends they were, the band played “Runaround Sue” instead.
Harriet – Alliteration doesn’t get any better than, “Hard-hearted harbinger of haggis”.

So are these the greatest songs about a woman ever recorded, or am I missing some? Do you have a favorite pop song featuring a non-traditional time signature? Do any of these songs stir up memories you’d like to share?

To check out my other mixtapes, click here.