88 Lines About 44 Women

Album: Hotel for Women (1981)
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  • Deborah was a Catholic girl
    She held out till the bitter end
    Carla was a different type
    She's the one who put it in
    Mary was a black girl
    I was afraid of a girl like that
    Suzen painted pictures
    Sitting down like a Buddha sat

    Reno was a nameless girl
    A geographic memory
    Cathy was a Jesus freak
    She liked that kind of misery
    Vicki had a special way
    Of turning sex into a song
    Kamala, who couldn't sing,
    Kept the beat and kept it strong

    Zilla was an archetype
    The voodoo queen, the queen of wrath
    Joan thought men were second best
    To masturbating in a bath
    Sherry was a feminist
    She really had that gift of gab
    Kathleen's point of view was this
    Take whatever you can grab

    Seattle was another girl
    Who left her mark upon the map
    Karen liked to tie me up
    And left me hanging by a strap
    Jeannie had a nightclub walk
    That made grown men feel underage
    Mariella, who had a son
    Said I must go, but finally stayed

    Gloria, the last taboo
    Was shattered by her tongue one night
    Mimi brought the taboo back
    And held it up before the light
    Marilyn, who knew no shame
    Was never ever satisfied
    Julie came and went so fast
    She didn't even say goodbye

    Rhonda had a house in Venice
    Lived on brown rice and cocaine
    Patty had a house in Houston
    Shot cough syrup in her veins
    Linda thought her life was empty
    Filled it up with alcohol
    Katherine was much too pretty
    She didn't do that shit at all

    Uh-uh, not Kathrine

    Pauline thought that love was simple
    Turn it on and turn it off
    Jean-marie was complicated
    Like some French filmmaker's plot
    Gina was the perfect lady
    Always had her stockings straight
    Jackie was a rich punk rocker
    Silver spoon and a paper plate

    Sarah was a modern dancer
    Lean pristine transparency
    Janet wrote bad poetry
    In a crazy kind of urgency
    Tanya Turkish liked to fuck
    While wearing leather biker boots
    Brenda's strange obsession
    Was for certain vegetables and fruit

    Rowena was an artist's daughter
    The deeper image shook her up
    Dee Dee's mother left her father
    Took his money and his truck
    Debbie Rae had no such problems
    Perfect Norman Rockwell home
    Nina, 16, had a baby
    Left her parents, lived alone

    Bobbi joined a New Wave band
    Changed her name to Bobbi Sox
    Eloise, who played guitar
    Sang songs about whales and cops
    Terri didn't give a shit
    Was just a nihilist
    Ronnie was much more my style
    Cause she wrote songs just like this

    Jezebel went forty days
    Drinking nothing but Perrier
    Dinah drove her Chevrolet
    Into the San Francisco Bay
    Judy came from Ohio
    She's a Scientologist
    Amaranta, here's a kiss
    I chose you to end this list Writer/s: David Kaufman, Douglas Guthrie, George Kaufman, Marc Campbell
    Publisher: CITYBEAT MUSIC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 6

  • Josh In Champaign from IllinoisDoes anyone else see some inspiration from this song on Pepper by Butthole Surfers?
  • Esskayess from EarthCampbell didn't mention in the interview whether Tanya still wore leather boots when...
  • Smitty from Seattle, WaThe tune of the humming between verses sounds an awful lot like Chad and Jeremy's "A Summer Song."
  • Seventhmist from 7th HeavenA clever parody of this song called "88 Lines About 44 Presidents" can be found online.
  • Ted from UsaThe Nails stole this song from a 1980 Magnavox television commercial. in the commercial the music is the same. the commercial rhymes the word "magnavox" with "bobby-sox".
    Here is a link to the commercial that the Nails stole from: https://youtu.be/UPX2EOkvHu4
  • Smartalek from BostonSuch a brilliant song -- one of those that just sits in the back of your head, dormant, for weeks, months, maybe years at a time, and then one fine day, you'll find it running through your inner ears.
    And of course, you have your own personal list of lyrics for it...
    don't you?
    You know you do.
see more comments

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