There have been many cover versions of this song over the years - it was performed by The Blow Monkeys for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and by Grace for Suicide Squad - but Lesley Gore is the mind behind this 1963 feminist anthem. The lyrics are a simple admonition for the men in Lesley’s life - don’t tell me what to say or do, and don’t put me on display when we go out. Sometimes, we’re at our strongest when we pick ourselves up and brush off the dust to show everyone we can’t be broken and we can’t be stopped once we put our minds to something. It’s a bit old-school if you’re a fan of more modern pop music, but the message still shines through more than 40 years later.

“I am woman, hear me roarIn numbers too big to ignore / And I know too much to go back an’ pretend / ‘Cause I’ve heard it all before / And I’ve been down there on the floor / No one’s ever gonna keep me down again.” This song is full of lyrics just like that - words that show just how strong a woman can be.

Just take a look at the first verse of this fem-power song: You can’t go wrong with a song that starts out with the phrase “I am woman, hear me roar,” and this 1972 classic only gets better from there. If you’re unsure where to start looking, or just want some new music to flesh out your fem-power playlist, here are a few tracks to get you started. There are so many amazing female artists in the music industry that it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to finding catchy, meaningful female power songs.

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