Last Updated on 18th February 2020 by Caroline Haye
My top skin songs and why I chose them
As a vitiligo blogger, I spend a lot of time reading, thinking and writing about skin. Mainly about how it works. Or, in the case of vitiligo, how it doesn’t work quite as it should. But, as we are in the holiday season, I thought it might be more fun to do something a bit more festive for a change… Like sing along with a few of my favourite songs with “skin” in the title.
Feel free to join in. (Or not.) Just be grateful you can’t hear me! And make sure you scroll to the end of this post for a bonus video that tells its own vitiligo skin story.
Top 10 skin songs (in no particular order)
1. Skin Deep – The Stranglers
Skin Deep is a warning about people whose friendship is just skin deep, based on what they can think they can get from you. But I especially like this video version (link above) because it includes the lyrics. And because it features tattoos on someone who looks as if they might have vitiligo.
2. Summer Skin – Death Cab for Cutie
This poignant song is a short but perfectly formed love story. A story about how summer love fades as fast as the freckles on summer skin. (And we shed what was left of our summer skin…) It’s quite poetic and beautifully written.
3. The Skins – Scissor Sisters
I can’t claim to understand the lyrics of this song. But the line, We cling to our skins, has a particular meaning in my own mind. It reminds me of how the colour of our skin defines our identity, which is why I believe that vitiligo is not just another skin condition.
4. American Skin (41 Shots) – Bruce Springsteen
At the risk of pouring icy water on the festive atmosphere of this post, I couldn’t leave out Springsteen’s tragic song about the New York police shooting 41 shots and killing the unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo in 1999. It has a dark feel and a serious message, as well it should.
5. Brown Skin Girl – Beyoncé
I have included Brown Skin Girl in my vitiligo blog because it must be one of the few songs ever to include the word “melanin”! (Melanin too dark to throw her shade.) But the other reason for including it is that I just love its celebration of brown skin (just like pearls). And I find the song so addictive to listen to.
6. Skin Tight – Chicago
This jazzy, R&B number is another rather addictive song and takes us back to the mid 1970s. The fuzzy live footage on this video is one of the more atmospheric versions. If you are anything like me, you’ll want to listen to this more than once.
7. I’ve Got You Under My Skin – various artists
A Cole Porter classic, this song takes us even further back last century. Most of us probably associate it with Frank Sinatra more than any other artist. But it was written in 1936 and first performed by Virginia Bruce in the film Born To Dance. And a guitar rendition by Jack Jezzro is one of the latest of many, many other versions of this old standard.
8. Skin Trade – Duran Duran
Despite its title, Skin Trade is not a song about dermatology! One of the lines in it did make me wonder for a moment… (Doctors of the revolution gave us, the medicine we desired.) But no – there’s nothing medical about this song. The title was apparently taken from an unfinished story by Dylan Thomas called Adventures In The Skin Trade. And the lyrics are dark and almost as obscure as Dylan’s writing.
9. Salt Skin – Ellie Goulding
The words to this song too are a bit difficult to interpret. Evidently, the salt skin of the title refers to sweat. According to the singer-songwriter’s own explanation, it is about running towards someone who also wants the same thing: in other words, requited love. I had never heard it before researching this post but I’m glad I found it. It’s really unusual and obviously written from the heart.
10. Perfect Skin – Peace
Perfect skin is something so many vitiligo sufferers long for. But this song highlights the fact that it’s only human to want what we don’t have and to feel inferior around those who do have those things. (I wish I had perfect skin. I wish I was tall and thin…) The humour in this song is what appeals to me most. It’s a reminder that being overly concerned with our appearance is normal, but really quite funny when you think about it.
Bonus vitiligo song video
I hope you have enjoyed my choice of songs with SKIN in the title (and my reasons for choosing them). I’m glad you stuck with me to the bottom of this post because I have saved the most relevant song till last. It’s from Krizz Kaliko and is actually called “Vitiligo”. I love it, and hope you do too. Enjoy… https://youtu.be/c7R_miVEjKc
