“Oooooooh
Lydia oh Lydia, say have you met Lydia,
Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.
She has eyes that folks adore so,
and a torso even more so.”
While some of our readers may be too young to remember Groucho Marx singing that old classic, perhaps you do remember the first episode of Jim Henson’s The Muppet show when his furry creations sang it. The song was a favorite of Jim’s, and was also sung by the Muppet performers at his funeral.
Musicians have always had a fascination with tattoos and tattooing. Even more so in recent years, but music and tattoos have a long history with each other that stretches back to before the current acceptance of the art.
Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote the Lydia Tattooed Lady back in 1939, but the old classic isn’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tattoos in songs. From the Rolling Stones Tattoo You album to The Edinburgh Military Tattoo: Bagpipe Marches of Scotland tattoos have penetrated song for decades.
Probably the next best thing to getting a new tattoo is listening to songs that have a tattoo theme. To that effect here is a list of some songs about tattoos, (I’m partial to the rock-n-roll myself, but I still get a kick out of anything tattoo.), for you to hunt down and download if you don’t already have them.
“Lydia the Tattooed Lady” by Groucho Marx.
“Tattoo” by the Who.
“Tattoo” by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
“Show Me Your Tattoo” by Cadillac Moon.
“Tattoos and Scars” by Montgomery Gentry
“Tattoo of Blood” by The Captain Howdy
“Bluebird Tattoo” by jazz singer Circe Link
“Carla’s Got a New Tattoo” by The John Cowan Band
“Tattoo Me Now” by The Bobs
“Saddest of Tattoos” by Artie Tobia
“Like A Tattoo.” by Sade
“Your Tattoo” by John Lester
“Tattoos n Jewelry” by Young Keno
The list can go on and on, and will cover just about any style of music you would care to listen to. So if you have an iTunes account, or some other MP3 account for downloading music, and want to hear some tunes about our favorite subject, (Tattoos, of course.), just put the word in the search engine. I’d bet you’ll be surprised by how much is out there to choose from.
If nothing else some of these tunes are down right hilarious, and everyone can use a good laugh now and then.