Given the spectrum of emotions and stereotypes associated with PMS, menstruation has historically provided ample lyrical fodder for all manner of artists. Here are some of the most notable tunes that serve to perpetuate and challenge cultural stereotypes about getting your period.
Dolly Parton: "PMS Blues"
With all its talk of "naggin’" and "raggin’", the camp-country classic might come across as a laundry list of cliches if it were being sung by any lesser an artist. But Dolly imbues this live favorite with a clever knowingness that Eve’s wicked curse to woman fully deserves. Parton’s winking self-awareness is on righteous blast: "But a woman had to write this song/ A man would be scared to/ Lest he be called a chauvinist/ Or just fall victim to those/ PMS blues."
Heavens to Betsy: "My Red Self"
With "My Red Self", the pioneering riot grrrl duo attempt to reclaim the shame and stigma associated with mere biological process. Corin Tucker howls, accusing "Is this the rag/ You use to humiliate me/ ‘Cause I was born/ I was born a girl?" Even amid the progressive messages of reclamation in the songs of OG RG bands, this was a particularly notable agenda, and was the track that put them on the map. In many ways it’s a progenitor to the wave of period-positive anthems that emerged over 20 years later.
Tacocat: "Crimson Wave"
From novelty songs like Lena D’s "Period Piece" to the dreamy bubblegum soul of U.S. Girls "28 Days" to the cheeky rap of Hand Job Academy’s "Shark Week" and the howling rock of Bully’s "Trying" the 2010s have been a fertile (pun totally intended) time for menstrual-music. However of all the playful pieces of PMS pop to emerge in the past five years, few are as bouncy and buoyant as "Crimson Wave", a literal surf-pop ode to Cher Horowitz’s favorite menstrual euphemism. Instead of succumbing to crying and cramps, Tacocat display a remarkable amount of bodily agency as they hit the beach instead, and empower their friends to do the same. Choice lyric: "Sew a scarlet letter on my bathing suit, ‘cause I’ve got sharks in hot pursuit."
Mary J. Blige: "PMS"
Sometimes your period really is a bitch though. Mary J. Blige completely validates the volatile emotions and physical symptoms that can sometimes accompany that time of the month. It’s okay if your back aches. It’s okay if your pants don’t fit. It’s okay if you’re feeling mopey. Even if you feel like a walking stereotype, It’s a nice reminder that you’re hardly alone in your discomfort, Mary J. feels your pain.
Janet Jackson: "Feedback"
While by no means the dominant theme of the song, Janet slips in one minor metaphor that makes a major impression. When she says, "My swag is serious/ Something heavy like a first day period," Miss Jackson equates indomitable positivity to a bodily function that’s often seen as a burden. It’s a strange comparison, but one that nevertheless embraces menses as power.
Ani DiFranco: "Blood in the Boardroom"
The dumb suits DiFranco rages against may have all the money, power, and instruments of death, but she has she something they never will—the ability to bear life. By leaving a "big brown bloodstain on their white chair" she wields the procreational power of her body as a tool against the patriarchy.
Young Real Nigga: "Real Niggas Don’t Care About No Period"
There’s no shortage of confused men rapping about menstruation (Lil Wayne equates menstrual blood to a venereal disease on "A Milli" and Ol Dirty Bastard equates it to violence on "Rawhide") which makes "Real Niggas Don’t Care About No Period" an even more frustrating song to dissect. On the one hand it desperately wants to dispel the hesitancy and taboo around period sex. On the other, it still manages to deny women any sexual agency in the process (can’t win ‘em all!). As Young Real urges his lover to "put a towel down" because he’s about to "run this red light," the misogyny is palpable.