The Male vs, Female Fan

I’m a guy who’s been a big fan for years. I’m not really sure why you think there’s some big difference between the sexes when it comes to perceptions of lu’s music. My favorites are pretty much the same as everybody’s: Lake Charles, Respect, Metal Firecracker, Ventura,etc. Additionally, the ones I don’t like also seem to be unpopular, mostly the ones that lack melody: Atonement, Get Right with God, American Dream, Wrap My Head Around That, etc. I don’t think Lu’s songs are directed at a female audience at all. They are universal. Maybe you should get out more and meet some guys.

My wife Angela and I are both big fans of Lucinda’s and I think we like her pretty much in the same way.

Not long after Essence was released we were recommending it some friends. I said that after hearing the title song I needed to go and take a cold shower and Angela said that she did too. 😉

This IS an interesting topic.
My dad was actually a Lucinda fan first. He went all over the place looking for Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and kept talking about her. Finally he played it for me and at first I thought “I don’t know about this…” That was back in the day where I thought MTV was cool…obviously, my taste in music has vastly improved. I’m all about Lucinda and Emmylou Harris these days.

Anyway, I was surprised by the Lucinda audience. I’m not sure what I expected, she does seem to have a lot of male fans. I haven’t come across a lot of people who listen to her. We’ve turned my aunt and uncle onto her and I know another woman that listens to her. I think she has something that appeals to both men and women. How could she not? I’m listening to that St. Louis concert right now…it just blows my mind how incredible this concert was!

Great topic!

I am a guy, and I love Lucinda; I am admittedly relatively “new” to Lucinda, having been a fan since 2001. I listen to WFUV here in the NY area, and every once in awhile I would hear this song that would just grab me…….then finally, with the release of Essence, Vin Scelsa (NY DJ – who I am also a big fan of!) happened to play a lot of this new CD, and BAM – I was able to finally make the connection between “that artist” I had heard sporadically on the station, with this new CD.

Since then I have bought all her CDs, been to see her approx. 8 to 10 times (first time – 9/8/01 – can hardly forget, given the events that would unfold a few days later…), and she is unquestionably my favorite artist (I do have an admitted eclectic taste – I also love Led Zeppelin, so go figure!).

I too have wondered why I loved Lucinda, when it did seem she would “naturally” connect more with women. Rather than repeat the excellent post by Ray, I would echo a lot of what he said. Her lyrics, the tone of voice, the raw emotion – probably the biggest factor. I just love that she is singing about real events, real situations that we all encounter – men or women – to which we can all relate.

I do have to say, at that first concert, I had no idea what to expect. Needless to say she was excellent!! During Essence, I swear, the palms of my hands were sweating!! Great stuff!

I also can relate to the “is she singing “for” me or “to” me” question. I don’t think there is one answer. I think for some songs, clearly it is “to” me; but for others, I do think it is “for” me, as well.

She has such a varied and terrific library of songs, it is hard to pinpoint favorites. Right now, I am listening an awful lot to “Still I long for your kiss”. I just think that is an absolute classic, that is severely underrated. I love the newer, slower rendition, as it delivers more of the emotion that I love in her music. Also love Lake Charles, Pineola, Essence, Bus to Baton Rouge, Steal Your Love, Drunken Angel, Too Cool 2 be Forgotten, …..oh boy… can go on and on!!

Great post, and thanks for having me participate! I will be going to see Lu at Town Hall in NY, Oct 2nd!! Looking forward to a great, great show! I think this concept is brilliant — cutting edge, sheds some light on Lucinda (which she is so deserving of) and allows the audience to be in Lucinda’s living room for the album, if you know what I mean. Hearing an album cover to cover is always something special, as it has its own personality and charm, and this allows us to do that…..!

Have fun!

I’m a married guy. Why do I think Lucinda Williams is probably the best songwriter in America? I’m not sure I can answer, but her music speaks to me. I had the extremely fortunate opportunity to meet and speak with Lucinda recently at a Mothertruckers show (also a great band) and I didn’t know how long I’d get to talk to her, so I said what I thought was important first, which was this: “I think ‘If we live in a world without tears, how would broken find the bone’ is the greatest line written in a song since ‘we just saw it from a different point of view, tangled up in blue.'” She was extremely gracious and grounded, thanked me, and we chatted about songwriting for a while. I was on cloud nine of course, and she definitely has a personal magnetism, and she and my wife hit it off as well. I was like a starstruck teenager and the Mrs. was nonplussed, which helped. Lucinda also is not interested in bullshit or pretense, and, god love you ladies, that can’t be said for all of womanhood, so maybe that’s part of the attraction to her music, she’s willing to say things in a way that most women aren’t. That is certainly one of the things that attracted me to my wife as well.

Why are there are so many lesbians at Indigo Girls shows? Is that a joke?

OK, I’ll play! ;o)

I’m male, in my late 40s, and a HUGE Lucinda fan. She is without any shadow of a doubt my favorite artist, and I LOVE music – have all my life – and I like a lot of varied kinds of music (I can relate to orlanan who said he likes Zeppelin, too – my favorite band all through high school, and still a favorite).

About 10 years ago, I really became a fan of female vocalists. Yet, for several years, Lucinda flew under my radar – I just hadn’t heard her or heard of her. So, late to the game, I found myself in a Borders bookstore using their in-store sampling system to check out new-to-me female vocalists when I stumbled upon “World Without Tears” (told you I was late!). I was immediately hooked. I bought it, and within a couple of weeks, I had every CD she had ever released to that point, from “Ramblin'” forward.

I can say unequivocally that I like everything that Lucinda has ever recorded. I know some fans are not as crazy about her newer stuff (i.e., many of the songs on “West”), or some of her hard rockers (“Joy”, “Atonement”, etc.) or some of her more “adventuresome” songs (like “American Dream”, “Wrap My Head Around That”, etc.), but I LOVE them all. Sure, I like some more than others, but her music (I hate to use a cliché here, but I will for lack of a better phrase) really “speaks” to me.

OK, now why is that so? Basically 3 things – the sad songs, the rockers, and the South.

First, I love her sad, blue songs. It’s not because I have been hurt deeply by past lovers – I am extremely fortunate in that I married the first true love of my life and, by the grace of God, we are still together 18 years later and I am happier than ever with our relationship (as is she, I believe). BUT, I can empathize so well with feelings of loss due to other events in my life. And, I’m not ashamed to admit, I have always been a “sensitive” male (OK, I admit it, I even get misty-eyed during sad movies!) who can relate to other’s pain and sadness. And, like I believe lucfan4ever said, when I get blue (and I often do – it’s a family tradition!), I often “revel” in it…

So, of all the female singer-songwriters, Lu’s work is by far the most heart-wrenching & poignant to me. In this vein, I love “Those Three Days”, “Bus To Baton Rouge”, “Lake Charles” (always tears my eyes up), “Blue”, “Broken Butterflies”, etc. The raw-edged emotions and personal subjects that Lu bares for the world to see in such songs is simply amazing.

But, there’s also the rockers. I love a good, hard-rockin’ song, especially one sung by a woman. Songs like “Joy”, “Essence”, “Out of Touch” (not the original version, which I also like, but the one that ended up on “Essence”), “Changed The Locks”, “Real Live Bleeding Fingers…”, etc. I love these songs, especially live (I’ll never forget, after the show the last time I saw her here in Atlanta, a girl was walking out of the venue – granted, a little drunk – and shouted, “DAMN! That chick can ROCK!!!!”).

Finally, but certainly not least, it is the South that Lu evokes in her music. I have lived in the deep South since I was 4 years old, and I love it here. I visited New Orleans several times as a child, and my wife and I honeymooned there. Songs like “Car Wheels…”, “Pineola”, “2 Kool…”, “Crescent City”, etc. all paint such an amazing picture of a part of a country that is a part of my soul.

And (sorry for the long post!), in the same vein of the South, I love old-time Americana music & old Delta Blues. So, all of “Ramblin'” & “Happy Woman Blues”, along with later songs like “Concrete & Barbed Wire”, “Jailhouse Tears”, etc. are close to home for me (so to speak).

Then there’s the songs that a buddy of mine (also a male fan – from New Orleans) calls the “crooners”. Then… And then… Well, I think you get the idea. Lucinda, for me, in one amazing musical artist and poet, pulls together so many emotions, places, times in my life, musical styles, and people that I’ve known all in one incredible package such that no one else comes close to her in my humble opinion. My wife & I are driving to Birmingham tomorrow to see her for the 10th time, and I am as excited as the first time I saw her.

Tom