The three songs Debbie Harry is proudest of: “Exactly what I wanted to say”
With a discography as long as Blondie’s and a career spanning decade after decade, there’s a lot to be proud of. The band were a force, bridging the gap between the punk scene of New York City in the 1970s and the mainstream music world as they burst from the CBGB crowd onto the world’s stage. Looking back, the band’s singer, Debbie Harry, picked out three songs in particular that stand out as shining moments.
With 11 studio albums under their belt, Blondie aren’t done yet. The band still perform today, still release new music, and recently discovered a treasure trove of unheard tracks in the archives, proving just how deep their discography goes. They remain a force to be reckoned with as one of the most referenced and influential bands out there. Whether people know just the hits or even simply just know Harry’s renowned look and style, it would be tough to find someone who didn’t, in some way, know the band or their impact.
Harry, especially, is one of rock’s most iconic figures. There’s a reason why so many people forget that Blondie is, in fact, a band and not simply the singer on her own as her influence looms large over music, fashion and pop culture as a whole. Today, hoards of women in the music world turn to her for aspiration, shaping their style, lyricism and characterful vocal delivery to the mould she set.
In her eyes, she set that standard best across three tracks. The first two are obvious picks as they remain timelessly beloved, written into history’s songbook as some of the most iconic rock tracks ever released. When asked to select the songs she’s most proud of, the answer was automatic, “Obviously ‘Heart of Glass’ or ‘Rapture’”, she told The Guardian. But both are not only classics but as real genre-expanding tracks. On ‘Heart Of Glass’, Debbie and her band merged the subcultures of punk and disco, creating a track that not only gave them mainstream success but brought the influence of these two underground worlds into the spotlight, too.
The same can be said for ‘Rapture’, which defies labels. The 1981 track is a mixture of rock, New Wave sounds, hip hop elements, and disco, and Harry and her troupe put all their various influences into the mix to make something unique.
For her third pick, however, Harry proves that her pride in her music has endured year after year. She refuses to be stuck in the past or trapped in the legacy of songs she made decades ago. Instead, she’s still just as excited about her new work. She picked out ‘Mother’, a 2011 track from Panic of Girls. “The lyrics fell into place beautifully and said exactly what I wanted to say, about children of the night who go to clubs and have this dark alternative universe away from their daily life,” she explained, proving that even in her modern work, her lyrical pen is sharp as ever.
The three songs Debbie Harry is proudest of:
- ‘Heart Of Glass’
- ‘Rapture’
- ‘Mother’
