Music Blog

The female body has been a source of inspiration for male musicians for decades.   No, I’m not talking about how it’s inspired them to perform certain unprintable acts in hotel rooms, in the back of tour buses, or in dressing rooms.   It’s inspired them to write songs with lyrics praising it — or very specific parts of it.   Some of those lyrics are humorous, some are downright sexy, and they pay tribute to women of all shapes and sizes.   Here’s a sampling of some of those body-conscious lyrics:

“Big Bottom” – by Spinal Tap

This legendary parody rock band, featuring actors Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and various ill-fated drummers, actually played their own instruments, and wrote their own music and lyrics.   One of the band’s best-known songs, this thunderous tune is played on three bass guitars, to emphasize the “bottom end. “  Its hilarious lyrics describe a man’s love for a woman’s gluteus that is quite maximus.   It’s hard to choose which of this song’s lyrics are the funniest, so I’ll just go for the chorus, with its clever plays on words:  “Big bottom/Big bottom/Talk about mudflaps/My gal’s got ‘em/Big Bottom, drive me out of my mind/How can I leave this behind?”

“Baby Got Back” – by Sir Mix-a-Lot

No, this rap song’s lyrics are not about a man’s joy about his girlfriend’s return from a long trip.   They’re about female “back” ends and — again — ones that are generously endowed.   MTV briefly banned the accompanying, explicit video, and naturally, the ensuing controversy made this Number 1, Grammy Award-winning song even more popular.   Sir Mix-a-Lot was inspired to write the lyrics while watching a beer commercial filled with models whose skinniness turned him off.   Some of the song’s tamer lyrics are, “I like big butts/And I can not lie/. . . Shake that healthy butt!/Baby got back!”

“Brick House” – by The Commodores

The lyrics of The Commodores’ funk classic, “Brick House,” are about a lady who’s more stacked than a full deck of cards.   And, according to those lyrics, she knows just when to, er, hold, and when to fold:  “She knows she’s built/And knows how to please/Sure enough to knock a strong man to his knees. “  Then-Commodore Lionel Richie is credited with writing the lyrics, but legend has it that band member William King dozed off trying to think of lyrics for the song, and awoke to discover a notepad on his chest with lyrics his wife had written.

“Legs” – by ZZ Top

The bad boys from Texas who were “just looking for some tush” in 1975 were chasing after “Legs,” by 1984.   Known for humorous lyrics engorged with innuendo, the lyrics to “Legs,” including, “She’s got hair down to her fanny/She’s kinda jet-set/Try undo her panties,” drew fire from feminists.   Offensive or not, those lyrics helped Top close in on the top of the charts.   They also helped the accompanying video get incessant airplay on the fledgling MTV, which was only three years old at the time.

There are other female body parts that musicians have gotten into — so-to-speak — and these are just a few that have captivated bands enough to immortalize them in their song lyrics.