Issue #1

Songs of Empowerment

Don’t some songs just kick your ass and make you feel good to be alive?!! Shoot tingles down your spine and help you spring out of bed to face the day? Each issue, Pretty Ugly will print five songs of empowerment sent in by one of our readers. Email yours on the contact page and get a free copy of the zine. To kick things off, Pretty Ugly member and zine writer Rijn, tells us about five rockin songs that empower her day.

There are so many wonderful, inspirational songs that empower me, that it’s difficult to choose only five. I would have loved in include ‘Goddess of the Moon’ by Tilt, ‘My Way’ by Nina Hagen, ‘Oh Bondage! Up Yours!’ by X-Ray Spex, ‘Checking Out Your Babe’ by Tribe 8 and even ‘That’s the Way’ by Culture Club (long story!) but ultimately, these songs are amongst the most empowering I know.

LUNACHICKS - Superstrong
It’s not easy choosing the song that empowers me most from the Lunachicks, my favourite band. I love their passion, their humour and exuberance, and their fiercely pro-female lyrics. ‘Superstrong’ is a perfect example; sung by the wonderful Becky Wreck, the Lunachicks’ drummer, it’s an anthem of righteous indignation, full of effusive wrath:

‘No-one is ever going to
Take our fucking rights back
Don’t touch us in the street
Cos we’re not your tits and meat
Just because we’re fucking women that’s right’

It’s almost impossible not to sing along as they howl the closing “chicks are Superstrong!”.
Lovely.

THE GITS - While You’re Twisting. I’m Still Breathing.
Mia Zapata’s soaring voice never fails to affect me. Unfortunately it also disturbs me, for in 1993 she was raped and murdered, and her killer has never been found. For quite some time I found it almost impossible to listen to The Gits because of this, but I realised that in enjoying their music I could honour the beauty of her voice and her life. This particular song is inspiring to me, especially when she sings:

go ahead and walk me close
escort me right to the edge
push me, push me, I don’t care
I keep coming back
Slightly stronger

This song always inspires and invigorates me with its underlying message of hope.

BABES IN TOYLAND - Handsome and Gretel
The first time I heard Kat Bjelland’s voice I was utterly mesmerized; never had I heard such impassioned rage coming from a woman. I also love the power of Babes in Toyland’s songs, the thundering drums and twisted fairy tale imagery in the lyrics. Although they’ve received criticism for writing this song in which they call another woman a ‘fucking bitch’, I agree with Kat’s assertion that women can and do betray other women, and should be called on it. There is something incredibly cathartic and refreshing about the venom Kat spits out - her ardour and vehemence is wonderful - and seeing Babes in Toyland live is an amazing experience.

SUICIDAL TENDANCIES - Institutionalised
This song became immensely important to me in my late teenage years as I felt my mind cracking - the lyrics, dealing with a disturbed teenager whose parents’ response to his problem is to lock him up, struck a chord with me, and the dynamic music invigorated me. Only a few months away from being institutionalised myself, I would lose myself in the power of the music and rapidfire lyrics as he howled.

I’m not crazy
You’re the one who’s crazy
Stick me in an institution
Said it was the only solution
Giving me the professional help
To protect me from the enemy:
Myself

This song was immensely empowering to me. I found solace and a sense of release in the furious energy of the song, and again, its cathartic benefit was enormous.

ETTA JAMES - God’s Song
Etta’s voice is just breathtaking: it literally makes me catch my breath. This woman is incredible, her voice sublime. On ‘God’s Song’ it is full of poignancy and pathos, rich with emotion and soul as she voices God’s dissatisfaction with the mankind he created. No-one sings the blues like Etta.