S***** Girls

The second volume of the trilogy of CDs Ruben and Mark gave me is entitled "S***** Girls."

1. My Heart Belongs to Daddy; Eartha Kitt

2. Dance: Ten, Looks: Three; A Chorus Line

3. It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy; Janie Frickie

4. I Know What Boys Like; The Waitresses

5. Sugar Walls; Sheena Easton

6. I Don't Know How to Love Him; Yvonne Elliman (from "Jesus Christ Superstar")

7. London Bridge; Fergie

8. Physical; Olivia Newton-John

9. Lady Marmalade; Patti LaBelle

10. Freak Like Me; Adina Howard

11. I'm the Kinda; Peaches

12. If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sitting On It; Pussy Tourette

Two songs merit special mention. First, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" contains the classic lines:

"I don't know how to take this

I don't see why he moves me.

He's a man

He's just a man

And I've had so many men before

In very many ways

He's just one more."

How can you argue with that? You can't.

Second, I believe that Janie Fricke, pictured above, is an underappreciated artist. I say this because of the genius that is her most popular song, "It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy," from 1983. I would argue that truer words have never been spoken. The chorus is as follows:

"It ain't easy bein' easy, no,

You're the one who took my heart and my soul

Walked away and left me out of control

And it ain't easy being easy, no.

No, it ain't easy when you're needin' someone

And it ain't easy bein' under the gun

And i'll surrender even though I should run

It ain't easy bein' easy."

You could place "It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy" in the same category as "I've Never Been to Me" by Charlene since both songs are by a woman whose been around the block more than a few times. In each song, the narrator is imparting her wisdom, based on lots of experience, to the listener.

Ruben and Mark know me so well - they knew that their inclusion of Janie Frickie's "It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy" on this CD would whip me into a shrieking frenzy. And, of course, it did. The first time I heard the song, driving south on Lake Drive in Shorewood, I almost had to pull the car over to the side of the road because of my admiration for this gem of a song.

There's no doubt that "it ain't easy bein' easy."