The 10 songs that define Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry is probably one of the most misunderstood frontwomen in history. Not just because Blondie emerged from the same pool that many deem “punk”, but because her upbringing and attitude towards music were something not many shared at the time. Maybe that’s because, growing up, she didn’t really have any female idols to show her the way.
Nevertheless, she carved her own path, taking demeaning or derogatory tropes as nothing more than an old mindset, rather than something to take as gospel, viewing the role of the frontwoman as the ultimate symbol of empowerment and liberation. But she knew this only because she felt it deep in her bones, finding inspiration from the limited space around her to become the one thing she had always wanted when she was younger.
“A persona gave me freedom, a world of my own,” she once said. “You pick a character that you love, and then it becomes you.” But becoming a force in the face of the male gaze wasn’t a well-thought-out pathway all of the time. Sometimes, it was just what she felt inside, her primal instinct coming to the surface on stage in ways that felt like a conscious mix of traditional femininity and something far less easily explainable.
“It’s animal instincts,” she explained, “I can’t define it more than that, but I know that exists for me.” Thus, on her 80th birthday, it only feels natural to celebrate the woman who, against all odds, became an impossible force of rock by going by her heart and feeling her way through, even when it quite literally went against everything the genre celebrated at the time. Because, after all, that’s where real magic emerges; from places unexpected, like a guiding light when people are turned the other way.
Songs that define Debbie Harry:
‘X Offender’
A debut single is always going to be a dubious affair for anybody, but Blondie’s ‘X Offender’ represented the one thing few find difficult to master – being an excellent standalone while hinting at where they’re headed next.
Coming up with the lyrics, Harry wrote the story from a woman’s point of view, with a narrator who becomes attracted to the police officer arresting her. A strong starting point for Blondie, it kickstarted a band trope Harry would maintain throughout their career. “I love to sing about sex,” she revealed in Blondie: Parallel Lives.
“It’s the most popular thing, but I think that some of my twists in the theme are good,” she continued. “Like on ‘X Offender’, the first thing that came out on the record that’s about a legal thing actually is about how you define what a sex crime is. It’s from the woman’s point of view.”
‘Hanging on the Telephone’
Parallel Lines wasn’t just a major breakthrough moment for Blondie; it was also the cherry on top of the cake that proved they had any sort of appeal you could possibly think of. And sitting at the top of this new reign was ‘Hanging on the Telephone’.
Another added to the ‘cover songs Blondie made better than the original’ list, ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ had its foot set in two camps, a tight grip on the final moments of the CBGB scene while signalling something newer and far more exciting. It had the energy that made them appealing in the first place, coupled with the innovation that made them one of the best bands to come out of the new wave scene.
‘Atomic’
Although it started as a conscious and purposeful follow-up to the band’s smash ‘Heart of Glass’, ‘Atomic’ eventually grew into its own, but only because of Harry’s ability to feel her way through song lyrics spontaneously, like a mindmap of countless ideas that only work because there’s so many to choose from.
“Somehow or another, we gave it the spaghetti western treatment,” she explained. “Before that, it was just lying there like a log. The lyrics, well, a lot of the time I would write while the band were just playing the song and trying to figure it out. I would just be scatting along with them, and I would just start going, ‘Ooooooh, your hair is beautiful.’”
‘One Way or Another’
A song most of us have no doubt danced to at one rough outing somewhere in our youth, ‘One Way or Another’ was given the Sherman Kelly treatment when Harry decided to write from personal experience in a way that transformed a tale of woe into one far more lighthearted and playful.
Inspired by a stalker, ‘One Way or Another’ was Harry’s reclaiming moment, taking something horrendous and turning it into an artistic statement of empowerment. “I tried to inject a little bit of levity into it to make it more lighthearted,” she said.
Continuing, “I think in a way that’s a normal kind of survival mechanism. You know, just shake it off, say one way or another, and get on with your life. Everyone can relate to that, and I think that’s the beauty of it.”
‘Rip Her To Shreds’
Representing the more raw atmospheres of Blondie’s humble beginnings, ‘Rip Her To Shreds’ was as much an uproar as a call to action of sorts for any woman immersed in the New York punk scene, showcasing a charge and fervour that felt authentic because, well, it was.
But that’s not all that the song drew attention to. It also criticised the vulturistic nature of the media and “gossip” culture, highlighting the ways in which public scrutiny can completely tear someone down, often for no reason at all.
‘Maria’
The general consensus is often that any given artist or band have a finite chapter to leave their legacy of greatness. Sure, they can do comeback tours and albums in the years that follow, but nothing will ever top their breakout. Well, ‘Maria’ defied that expectation on all terms. It was an emphatic track that satiated the appetite of long-term fans, mourning over their creative plateau and excited a whole new generation of listeners.
A clever use of chiming bells in the chorus made it a subliminal Christmas hit, but Blondie’s inclusion of the instrument never deviated from the path of artistic authenticity the band set out to follow. While the lyrics weren’t written by Harry, she delivers one of her finest vocal performances for the band, showcasing vulnerability and power in equal measures while elevating the chorus line into the sing-along stratosphere.
‘Call Me’
Let’s get one thing clear before I delve any further: Debbie Harry was a prolific and iconic songwriter. But it was a foundation skill that enabled her to become a master collaborator, elevating melodies and rhythms written by other musicians, taking them to a more artistically unique environment.
And like Maria, Harry took something that wasn’t innately hers and morphed it into something so engaging that it’s simply impossible to picture it without her influence. Italian disco legend Giorgio Moroder wrote the structure of the melody, which was then injected with colour by Harry, whose vocal melodies flutter in between the pulsing rhythm performances of her band. Despite the lofty technical requirements of this track, Harry transitions between keys seamlessly but without neglecting the all-important character required for the performance.
‘Heart of Glass’
If you ever needed convincing that Clem Burke bass playing and Debbie Harry’s vocal performances were joined together by higher forces, then listen to ‘Heart Of Glass’. The pair tread the line between conflict and harmony, as Harry’s ethereal vocal ability seems to ride the wave of Burke’s driving groove like an elite-level surfer.
Together, the pair defined an innovative idea of disco and new wave in the aftermath of New York’s punk scene. But while Burke’s unrelenting rhythmic performance is for many the standout player of the track, it’s hard to ignore Harry’s ability to pen a vocal melody. In every bar, the song seems to hem her into a corner of expectation, which she lightly eludes with her ability to change key, subsequently dancing around the rhythm at her own pace.
‘Dreaming’
OK, the band may have diffused any praise by quickly labelling this track as an ABBA rip-off, but it’s so much more than that. While the melodic profiles nod to one another, there’s no mistaking Chris Stein’s frantic guitars and Clem Burke’s unrelenting rhythm sections, which have all been placed on Harry’s back in the hope that it will bring out the underlying power of her vocals.
Which, in short, it did. She grabbed the load placed on her by her bandmates and lifted them into a bright space of commercial power pop. The echoes of interest that live inside the walls of Harry’s vocal cords were amplified by the layering of her vocal takes to provide a hypnotic world of Debbie Harry harmonies. In ‘Dreaming’ Blondie realised they had everything in their lead singer: pop princess, disco queen and leader of the alternative underground.
‘Rapture’
When Clem Burke introduces the bassline to ‘Rapture’, there’s no knowing how Harry will approach it. She has every approach in her arsenal and could quite easily deliver some punchy vocal stabs to amplify his rhythmic impact. But despite the song’s sludgy groove, Harry proves her sense of independent intent, flying high above the mud with an ethereal and graceful vocal performance.
It oozes delicate femininity and a sense of elusive charm that laced the late-night haze of ’70s disco clubs. But Harry was not willing to subject herself to a sea of pastiche that emerged during the heady days of that scene. Oh no, she wanted to stake a flag in the ground and announce a sense of artistic difference.
What follows is a rap that would have ordinarily been the only natural companion for Burke’s bassline but was understandably dismissed as an option given the infancy of the genre in 1980. Harry’s breakdown proved a continued innovative spirit that existed within her artistry and an enigmatic ability to put her hand to whatever genre she deemed fit. So now in ‘Rapture’ the band realised that they had everything in their lead singer: pop princess, disco queen and innovator of hip-hop.
