Bette Davis Eyes was by Jackie DeShannon first, dude.

Girlfriend by Avril Levigne

Gosh Hadjiboy, your question is probably more crazy than mine. : ) There are millions.

Any song written by a woman? That's going to be a hella long list. Or did you mean songs about women by women?

Can't seem to find that version jon.:(

Haha, LoriFLA--I was thinking more along the lines of "memorable ones" that pull at your heart strings.:)

And Girlfriend doesn't count (nothing against you essex, luv), but I'm looking for something with a bit more substance.

Everything by Aimee Mann!
Lots of Stuff from Cat Power! (esp. the latest one)

There aren't too many songs that pull at my heartstrings, but none of the ones you've listed do. Something by Tori Amos used to but I can't remember which one. It was really pretty and lush and orchestral.

Are you wanting just performed by women, written by written by women, written and performed by women or, even more extreme, written, performed (all instruments, not just vocals) and produced by women? What do you define as depth? As was previously stated, this could be a very large list.

My favorite female singers are Tori Amos, Macy Gray, Tina Turner, Sarah McLachlan, Shelby Lynne, and many others.

Here's a favorite of the moment:

One for Me - Macy Gray

right. what do you mean? most of my playlists are women-fronted outfits (some who do the writing, some who just do the singing, some who do all the writing and all the playing): such as the Throwing Muses (and all the offshoots, Belly, Breeders, Tanya Donelly & some of Hersch's solo stuff); All girl summer fun band, the Arrogants, Angelfish, Autumm Thieves, Azure Ray, battery, Baxter, Bebel Gilberto, Berlin, Bis, Bjork, Black Box Recorder, Blondie, Kate Bush, Cardigans, Neko Case, Cibbo Matto, Patsy Cline, Cocteau Twins, Collide, Concrete Blonde, Congo Norvell, Cowboy Junkies, Cranes, Curve, Dance Hall Crashers, Daughter Darling, (I will only listen to Lisa Gerard singing) Dead Can Dance (songs), Devics, Die Monster Die, Linda Draper, Echobelly, Edith Frost, Elastica, Electrostatic, Elysian Fields (I LOVE Jennifer Charles), Espadrille, Eurythmics, Eve's Plum, Fiona Apple, Aretha Franklin, Full Blown Kirk, Garbage, Halou, Heavenly, Helium, Hem, Brenda Holloway, Hooverphonic, Lida Husik, Ivy, Etta James, jane Jensen,Janis Joplin, Jucifer, Jute, Kidney Thieves, Luscious Jackson, Lamb, Le Tigre, Les Sans Cullotes, Letters to Clean, Sinead Lohan, Loquat, Lords of Acid, Courtney Love (and Hole), Lush, Loretta Lynn, Kirsty MacColl, Madder Rose, MagnaPop, April Marsh, Mary Timony, Mazzy Star, Metric, Mira, Miranda Sex Garden, Moloko, Trish Murphy, Nouvelle Vague, Heather Nova, NY Loose, Over the Rhine, Portishead, Povi, Rainer Marie, Red Delicious, Rasputina, Republica, Saint Etienne, Shakepear's Sister, Shivaree, Siouxsie, Splashdown, Jesse Sykes, Tegan and Sarah, Vienna Teng, Teh Casual Dots, The December Sound, The Innocence Mission, the Places, This Ascension, Transmissionary Six, Van Elk, Suzanne Vega, Veruca Salt, Tracy Bonham, Cheryl Bliss, Eden Automatic, Charlotte Hatherly, Hungry Lucy, Lisa Marr, PErspehone's Bees, and MORE!

Pull your heart? Sanvean by Lisa Gerard is The Song of Infinite Longing.

my favourite female singers of the moment: Laura Veirs, Regina Spektor, Neko Case, Katie Melua and Cat Power.

Wow, that’s a lovely list crush. I’ll have to dig out a few of those which I might not have heard before, maybe many of them. I am familiar with Cat Powers though, and like her stuff. Tori Amos too. I guess the type of songs that I was looking for were songs about women being misunderstood, or wanting men to understand them, or like the Joan Osbourne one, which is a really beautiful number.

Oooh, I also dig the number that Aimee Mann did for Magnolia.

PS, LunaticFringe, only performed will do:)

Has no one mentioned Carol King? She wrote just about every song ever recorded in the 60s before becoming an influential singer/songwriter in her own right. She is one of my personal heroes.

That being said, I must say that I have an odd aversion to "women" singers. Not singers who happen to be women--like Chrissie Hynde or Kim Gordon, but the real Lillith Fair types like Sarah McLachlan or (gulp) Tori Amos. I think I'm a musical misogynist. A musogynist, if you will.

Alanis Morrissette belongs on that list...

I have an all-girl lineup in my car's CD changer right now...

Merril Bainbridge (The Garden)
Blondie (Best of)
Sheryl Crow (Tuesday Night Music Club)
Madonna (Immaculate Collection)
Natalie Merchant (Ophelia)
Carole King (Tapestry)

From those discs, I would suggest (respectively),
Mouth,
In the Flesh,
Man Enough and/or No One Said It Would Be Easy,
Crazy for You and/or Justify My Love,
Frozen Charlotte,
Will You Love Me Tomorrow?

Your mileage may vary.

Does country count? Emmylou Harris's "All My Tears" was written by Julie Miller.

I see Kate Bush and Portishead were mentioned already. PJ Harvey?

Exene Cervenka? Penelope Houston? Jarboe? Diamanda Galas? Ella Fitzgerald? Billie Holiday? Cassandra Wilson? Madeleine Peyroux? Abbey Lincoln? Fontella Bass? Leena Conquest? Pyeng Threadgill? Roxanne Shante? Ladybug Mecca? Bahamadia? Jean Grae?

Dear Darling