The Girl in the Song

The Girl in the Song tells the stories of 50 women who have inspired classic rock songs.

Who was Emily in Pink Floyd’s See Emily Play? What happened to Suzanne Verdal, immortalised in Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne? Did life change for Prudence Farrow after John Lennon penned Dear Prudence? And whatever happened to ‘the girl with mousy hair’, an ex-girlfriend Bowie sings about in Life on Mars? This fascinating book explains how each song came about, when it was released, the impact it had on the charts and then gives a mini-biography of the song’s muse. Suzanne Verdal was living a bohemian lifestyle by the river in Montreal when Cohen wrote his poem Suzanne, which he subsequently set to music. Later in life she tried to get in touch with the star who blanked her backstage at a gig. She was last heard of living in a car in California. Apart from songs, the book features sidebars on the performers who wrote about the women in their life – Syd Barrett famously included four girls in the same song. Other examples include:Under My Thumb – The Rolling Stones (Chrissie Shrimpton),She’s Leaving Home – The Beatles, Layla – Derek and the Dominoes (Patti Boyd), Peggy-Sue – Buddy Holly (Peggy-Sue Gerron), Maggie May – Rod Stewart, Light of Day – Bruce Springsteen (Julianna Phillips), Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond (Caroline Kennedy).