Check Out For Yourself: 15 Songs About "Myself"
Even After His First Big Hit, Billy Was Not Idle
Mainly because of the increased attention to the transgender movement, some linguists are advocating to a add a new pronoun to the English language. Our current vernacular is limited to either the masculine or feminine singular pronoun, outside of the non-human neutral "it."
Alas, the English language is difficult enough to truly master, so much so that just a very small percentage of its users actually do so. The last thing we need to do is burden the language with yet another pronoun.
Most folks do not even realize half of the pronouns currently in use, and fewer still could identify the different types. We have enough trouble merely distinguishing the singular form from the plural, which drives crazy nearly every teacher of grammar.
Two types are easily recognized, yet hard to distinguish. Any word ending with self or selves is a pronoun, but the difficulty comes when trying to identify it as reflexive or intensive.
In spite of these complex pronoun problems we have in English, some of our best known songs actually use the self pronouns in their titles. The most popular would naturally be the first person form of myself, which is a major component of these fifteen songs.
1. All By Myself by Eric Carmen
After scoring several Top Ten hits with the Raspberries, Carmen started out on his own with this aptly titled solo single.
2. Dancin' By Myself by Ambrosia
Life Beyond L.A. was the trio's commercial breakthrough because of accessible tunes like this and "How Much I Feel", as they departed from the experimental prog Rock of their first two albums.
3. I Can't Help Myself by the Four Tops
The Quartet had trouble Topping this smash hit, which has been covered by numerous artists in the half century since its release.
4. Do It By Myself by Guster
We should be grateful that the "It" is never specified, only implied, in this catchy track from the Evermotion album.
5. Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol
Somehow things went awry after his "White Wedding", for it was not long that he became associated with this song.
6. Mail Myself To You by Woody Guthrie
The folk legend, outside of his powerful social themed compositions, managed to also provide some lighter tunes such as this one.
7. Myself At Last by Graham Nash
This track comes from the folk rock veteran's most recent album, This Path Tonight.
8. Forget Myself by Elbow
When the indie band released Leaders of the World back in 2005, they wisely chose this track as the first single.
9. Hate Myself For Loving You by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
She had already established that she loved rock and roll in earlier hit, so this follow up reinforced it.
10. Pick Myself Up by Peter Tosh
"After working so hard, not even a piece of bread in the yard," Tosh sighs in this tune, which adds political undertones to the idea expressed in Otis Redding's biggest hit.
11. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Myself a Letter by Paul McCartney
He did an entire album of standards he had always admired, and this classic was among them.
12. Cry Myself To Sleep by Cher
Many artists did a version of this downer, but none could ever pull it off as powerfully as the eternal diva.
13. Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself Again by Sly and the Family Stone
It makes for a long title, but the gang did manage to squeeze in three pronouns.
14. Living Inside Myself by Gino Vanelli
Vanelli was a mainstay on the pop charts in the late Seventies, primarily because of catchy hits like this one.
15. I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself by Waylon Jennings
With a title like this, you know it has to be a song from the genre of classic country.
