Your feminist anthem of the day is “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks. The song was released in spring of 1997 and rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video received a lot of airplay on what was left of MTV at the time.
In its own way, “Bitch” is a spiritual successor to yesterday’s classic song of the day, Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.” The protagonist is telling her suitor that she’s nobody’s plaything and is in fact a little bit of everything to everybody—and she’s damned proud of that:
I’m a bitch
I’m a lover
I’m a child
I’m a mother
I’m a sinner
I’m a saint
And I do not feel ashamed
I’m your hell
I’m your dream
I’m nothing in between
You know you wouldn’t want it any other way
Many critics compared “Bitch” to Alanis Morissette’s output at the time, and not always favorably. One such critic cited the similarities to Morissette’s songs, from the “semi-profane lyrics to the caterwauling chorus.” I don’t think it’s a fair comparison; “Bitch” has far better lyrics than all the self-obsessed angsty young adult pap from Morissette’s 1995 Jagged Little Pill album. (I mean, not a single thing mentioned in “Ironic” is actually ironic, right?) Also, she doesn’t caterwaul. In any case, “Bitch” stands on its own for both its lyrics and its hard-edged production. It’s got a catchy beat and you can dance to it. I’d give it a 95.
Brooks herself dismissed the comparisons between her and the whiny Canadian former teen TV star, telling an interviewer: “I’m not ‘an angry young girl’—or whatever the phrase of the moment is—but I’m human. It’s not to excuse ranting and raving, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having ‘a mood.’ I don’t think we all need to keep the mask on all the time.”
Meredith Brooks was not, indeed, an “angry young girl.” When “Bitch” was released in 1997 Ms. Brooks was almost 40 years old, which gave her a bit more perspective on life than the 21 year-old entitled brat who wrote “Ironic” and “You Oughta Know.” By that time Ms. Brooks had been performing for over twenty years, both solo and as a member of various all-girl rock bands. She’d been a member of the Portland, Oregon, music scene since the mid-’70s, when her Canadian counterpart was still in diapers. She later moved to Seattle, joined up with Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Go’s in a band called the Graces (which had a #56 single, “Lay Down Your Arms,” in 1989), and subsequently signed a solo deal with Capitol Records.
Blurring the Edges, Ms. Brooks’ second Capitol album, peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart and went double platinum, thanks in no small part to the success of “Bitch.” That ain’t bad for a rock and roller who was then approaching middle age. Even better, Meredith Brooks is still performing and recording today, now 64 years old, and good for her.
