My Favorite Songs with Female Vocals (Part One)

“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” is a 1941 World War II–era jump blues/swing novelty song written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince and introduced by The Andrews Sisters in the Abbott and Costello film Buck Privates, with the trio’s tight harmonies and upbeat, horn-driven arrangement capturing a fictional story about a top boogie-woogie trumpet player

drafted into the army who livens up reveille and inspires his company with his energetic style. The Andrews Sisters’ Decca recording peaked at #6 on the U.S. pop singles chart in the spring of 1941, becoming one of their most iconic hits and a staple of wartime entertainment, and the song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song though it did not win; it has been ranked among

the most significant American songs of the twentieth century and widely anthologized as emblematic of its era. Over the decades it has been covered and reinterpreted many times, notably by Bette Midler, whose 1972 version reached the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 top ten, and by groups such as En Vogue and The Puppini Sisters, and its influence

has even inspired elements in songs like Christina Aguilera’s “Candyman,” underscoring the song’s enduring appeal beyond its original 1940s context as both a celebration of music’s morale-boosting power and a cultural touchstone of the swing era.

“Over the Rainbow,” sung by Judy Garland in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, was written by composer Harold Arlen with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and became one of the most enduring standards in American popular music, introduced in the film as a wistful ballad expressing young Dorothy Gale’s longing for escape from hardship and belief

in a better world “somewhere over the rainbow.” Initially nearly cut from the film, the song was retained and ultimately won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the ceremony held on 02-29-1940, quickly becoming Garland’s signature number and a major hit when released as a single in 1939, reaching the top five on the Billboard charts.

The song’s meaning blends childlike innocence with deeper themes of hope, perseverance, and the universal desire for transcendence beyond present troubles, resonating strongly during the closing years of the Great Depression and on the eve of World War II. Garland reprised it throughout her career in concerts and television appearances,

further cementing its association with her legacy, and her original recording was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. In terms of ranking and cultural stature, it was named the number one song in the American Film Institute’s “100 Years…100 Songs”

list in 2004 and consistently appears near the top of greatest-songs lists compiled by critics and historians. The composition has been recorded by countless artists across genres, including notable interpretations by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole,

whose medley version in the early 1990s brought renewed international popularity, as well as renditions by Eva Cassidy, Frank Sinatra, and many others, ensuring that “Over the Rainbow” remains not only Judy Garland’s defining performance but also one of the most frequently covered and beloved songs of the twentieth century.

“Sleep On,” as sung by Alison Krauss, is a tender bluegrass-inflected love song written by Nelson Mandrell and originally recorded for her 1987 solo album Too Late to Cry when she was still in her teens and early in her career; it features Krauss’s pure, emotive vocals with mandolin, dobro and fiddle backing that underscore the song’s intimate

feel and was later included on the 1995 compilation Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection. The lyrics explore themes of vulnerability, trust and the lingering pain of past emotional hurt, with the narrator weighing the warmth of physical closeness against deep doubt about her partner’s sincerity and wrestling

with whether to believe in love again after being let down before, using the refrain “sleep on” as a metaphor for both consolation and postponing hard emotional decisions. Although “Sleep On” was not released as a major chart single and thus doesn’t have significant chart rankings of its own, it remains a cherished cut among fans of Krauss’s early work and is often noted for its heartfelt simplicity

and lyrical poignancy that foreshadow her later success, standing alongside other deep album tracks rather than mainstream hits; over time it has been appreciated in retrospective collections as part of her formative years and development as a leading voice in contemporary bluegrass and country.

“Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,” written by Bob Stone and produced by Snuff Garrett for Cher’s seventh studio album Chér (which was reissued under the song’s title after its success), is a vivid pop/folk-rock story-song released as a single on September 1, 1971, that became a defining hit in Cher’s career. Sung from the perspective of a young girl

“born in the wagon of a traveling show,” the lyrics recount her life on the margins of society with her parents scraping by through dancing and odd jobs while being derided as “gypsies, tramps, and thieves,” only for the narrator to fall pregnant after a brief romance and pass that same hard-luck existence to her daughter,

touching on themes of prejudice, survival, poverty and hypocrisy. The single was Cher’s first solo number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, spending two weeks atop the chart and also reaching #1 in Canada as well as the top five in the U.K., Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and other countries, earning her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and helping revive her recording career after a slump in the late 1960s.

The song has been covered and interpreted by various artists over the years—including Cilla Black and Vicki Lawrence—and has appeared in films and television, remaining one of Cher’s signature early hits and a culturally resonant narrative piece from the early 1970s pop era.

“What Is Life,” as performed by Olivia Newton-John, is her 1972 cover of a song written by George Harrison that originally appeared on his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass; her version was arranged and produced by Bruce Welch of the Shadows and John Farrar, who were key collaborators for her early career, and it featured as a track on her

album Olivia and as a single in several territories. Newton-John’s take stays true to the melodic pop of the original but is tailored to her softer vocal style, and although it made only a modest impact in the United States it reached the British Top 20, peaking at #16 and spending eight weeks on the UK Singles Chart in March 1972,

and it later appeared on compilation albums such as Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992 and The Definitive Collection. The song’s meaning centers on Harrison’s classic blend of romantic devotion with broader existential questioning wrapped in a memorable hook, and while it isn’t counted among Newton-John’s signature hits it

represents a notable early single in her catalogue at a time when she was bridging folk-pop and mainstream adult contemporary sounds; other artists across genres have also covered “What Is Life,” from instrumental takes to language adaptations, underscoring the song’s enduring appeal beyond both Harrison’s and Newton-John’s versions.

“Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s a Doll Revolution)” is a song written by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and originally recorded on his 2002 album When I Was Cruel, from a title inspired by odd Japanese “Engrish” on toy packaging and reflecting Costello’s sharp, surreal imagery; the Bangles covered it for their 2003

comeback album Doll Revolution, producing it with Brad Wood and opening the record with their energetic, jangly rock interpretation that blends their trademark harmonies with punchy guitars and an up-tempo beat. In the Bangles’ version, the lyrics play with doll-and-revolution metaphors,

suggesting self-determination and breaking free from imposed roles while subverting toy-like imagery of control and conformity, and though not a major chart hit, it was released as one of three singles from Doll Revolution during the band’s first studio album in over a decade. The song has endured among fans and critics as a standout

track from that record, ranked in some retrospectives among the band’s notable post-reunion songs and highlighted for its rockier edge compared with their earlier pop hits, but it did not achieve the mainstream chart success of the Bangles’ 1980s classics, and other versions largely center on covers of the Costello original rather than alternate reinterpretations.