Photo: WeHeartIt
Smooth and sultry ... just like you!
By E.T. Carlton — Written on Feb 05, 2016
You can find plenty of sex playlists and sexy song recommendations all over the Internet. But if you’d rather not go with the obvious Marvin Gaye/Robin Thicke/Drake playlist that everyone else is getting down to, start here: sexy songs sung by women.
Because what’s more seductive, exciting, and downright sultry than a woman who’s in touch with her sexuality and not afraid to share that fact with the world? Nothing, that’s what.
Below are 10 of the sexiest songs by women, spanning a variety of genres and a variety of eras. The one thing they have in common: They're sure to get you hot and bothered.
1. Ooh La La – Goldfrapp
In an homage to the open sexuality of the 1970s disco era, lead singer Alison Goldfrapp uses breathy vocals, a hypnotic electronic beat, and lyrics like “switch me on, turn me up, I want to touch you, you're just made for love” to tantalize and seduce. If you like your sex songs to be danceable, you will love this one.
2. "Touch" – Amerie
“Don’t be afraid to touch … I know you think I’m a good girl.” Amerie uses a dance beat and combines it with sly references to the good girl/bad girl stereotype to create or of the hottest songs in recent years. The Latin-tinged melody and conga drum beats lead right to sex, but so does Amerie’s proclamation that “I want him to feel the other side of me … to do to me what he wants to.”
3. "Do Me Baby" – Meli'sa Morgan
Morgan’s cover of the Prince classic uses the same lyrics about sexual yearning and the urgency of now, (“You want me just as much as I want you. Let’s stop fooling around.”) but Morgan adds a softer, more sensual vibe. The result is feminine, sexy, and exciting, without being as in your face as the original.
4. "I Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl" – Bessie Smith.
Blues legend Smith recorded at a time when openly sexual lyrics had to be hidden behind double entendre and metaphor — especially if those lyrics were being sung by a woman. Smith masterfully incorporates her own sensuality as she growls and practically moans through lyrics like “I need a little steam-heat on my floor … I need a little hot dog between my rolls … what’s the matter hard papa, come and save your mama’s soul”.
5. "AAA XXX" – Peaches
Electro-punk performance artist Peaches is known for exploring gender roles in her music, and in this danceable, edgy anthem, she takes on a dominant role when it comes to sex. With lyrics like “I like the innocent type, deer in the headlight, rocking me all night, flexing his might, doing it right,” there’s no question that this woman knows exactly what she wants in bed.
6. Master’s Hands – Charlotte Gainsbourg
The daughter of legendary model/actress Jane Birkin and French singer/actor/provocateur Serge Gainsbourg is practically sex royalty, so it's no surprise that she can crank out a song that makes you want to get down. But this is no ordinary song: it’s catchy, flirty, and downright hot all at the same time. Gainsbourg’s voice is at times almost a whisper, but the meaning of lyrics like “hold my head up, right foot back, take my hands down, shake my back. Pull my strings, cut my rope” come through loud and clear.
7. "Baby What You Want Me To Do" – Etta James
Etta James may be best known for the hauntingly beautiful love song “At Last,” but Ms. James shows us her erotic side in this ode to sexual obsession. The blues-y, rollicking tune is infused with sexual longing and a willingness to do just about anything in the name of desire: “You got me runnin', got me hidin', Run round hidin' runnin' anyway you want it.” Anyone who has ever felt the inescapable pull of carnal attraction will immediately identify with this classic sex song, song by one of the greats.
8. "Rabbit Hole" – Natalia Kills
This song starts out fast, with the lyric “we’re the kind your momma warned you about” and doesn't let up on the woman-in-charge lyrics. The Alice in Wonderland theme of falling down a rabbit hole is transformed here into losing yourself to great sex: “When I fall in love, I fall down the rabbit hole. Follow me down the rabbit hole.” Rabbits come up again later, in a more explicit reference to … what bunnies are known for doing. Yes, this is a raunchy song, but it's also a fun, high-energy look at the sheer joy of great sex.
9. "National Anthem" – Lana Del Rey
It starts out as a re-creation of Marilyn Monroe’s famous performance of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” but quickly becomes both a sexy song and a meditation on power and lust. Del Rey manages to parody of the western obsession with status, while acknowledging the very real sexual attraction many women have to powerful men. This is a layered, complicated song whose slinky beats will make your pulse race and whose thought-provoking lyrics will make you think about the relationship between love, money, power, and sex. As Del Rey says, “It’s a love story for the new age … we’re on a quick sick rampage, overdose and dyin’, on our drugs and on our love and our dreams and our rage.”
10. "Rock Me Baby" – Tina Turner
“Rock me baby, rock me all night long. I want you to rock me baby like my back ain’t got no bones.” The lyrics say it all: this is a song about wanting it…bad. Originally recorded by B.B. King in 1964, “Rock Me Baby” has gone on to become a blues standard that has been covered by dozens of artists. All of them men. But in 1984, Tina Turner got her hands on it and turned it from raunchy to a high-energy, smoky, sensual great time of a song that will put any listener in a sexual state of mind. Recommended as one of the best seduction songs of all time – resistance is futile.
E.T. Carlton (@ET_Scribit) is a New York-based writer and branding consultant who specializes in writing about marketing, the arts, literature and pop culture.