Leather | 5ive Songs

1. Stevie Nicks & Don Henley, “Leather and Lace”

💿 Bella Donna • 🏷 Modern / Rhino • 📅 1981

“I need you to love me / I need you today / Give to me your leather / Take from me my lace.” 💿 Bella Donna, the 1981 debut solo LP by 🏆 Grammy-winning icon 🎙 Stevie Nicks is filled with hits – understatement.  Among the surefire gems is the eighth track, 🎵 “Leather and Lace.” On “Leather and Lace,” Nicks is assisted by fellow icon, 🎙 Don Henley of 🎙 The Eagles.

“Leather and Lace” honestly has little to do with leather or lace.  Sure, Nicks utters the lines on the chorus, but this song is all about love – a meaningful bond.  “Still, I carry this feeling / When you walked into my house,” Nicks sings, continuing, “That you won’t be walking out the door.”  The lyrics are personal, considering Nicks and Henley dated, and while the relationship ended, they remained friends.  Henley, like Nicks, also gets personal, characterizing his different moods and the importance of their ‘relationship.’

2. Drake, “Tuscan Leather”

💿 Nothing Was the Same • 🏷 Cash Money • 📅 2013

🎵 “Tuscan Leather” commences 💿 Nothing Was the Same, the third studio album by Grammy-winning rapper/singer, 🎙 Drake. Notably, “Tuscan Leather” looks to the R&B of the past for inspiration, sampling the likes of 🎙 Whitney Houston (🎵 “I Have Nothing”) and 🎙 Curtis Mayfield (🎵 “When Seasons Change (Live)”).  Ambitious at six minutes in duration, each verse features a different sound, utilizing the Houston sample uniquely.

Drake delvers some clever rhymes, including his non-commercial ‘commercial’ status (“This is nothin’ for the radio, but they’ll still play it though / Cuz it’s that new Drizzy Drake, that’s just the way it go”), a play on the alphabet (“Like aye, B I got your CD, you get an E for effort”), or Ellen DeGeneres (“Yeah, Tom Ford Tuscan leather smelling like a brick / Degenerates, but even Ellen love our shit…”) An essay could be written just on the opener, which doesn’t have too much to do with leather, ultimately.

3. Grace Jones, “Warm Leatherette”

💿 Warm Leatherette • 🏷 Island • 📅 1980

“A tear of petrol / Is in your eye / The hand brake / Penetrates your thigh.” Woo! In case you weren’t aware, 🎙 Grace Jones is a total bad ass.  Now that that’s been established, her 1980 album, 💿 Warm Leatherette is must-hear listening, period.  It commences with a cover you’d swear was her own: 🎵 “Warm Leatherette” courtesy of 🎙 The Normal.  “Warm Leatherette” was written by 🎼✍ Daniel Miller (aka The Normal). 🎛 Chris Blackwell and 🎛 Alex Sadkin produce this funky gem.  Oh, and in case you’re unfamiliar with the terminology, leatherette, per Soho Concept, is a synthetic material designed to mimic leather.

“Warm Leatherette” is a vibe.  There’s a hypnotic quality that sucks you right in from the jump.  Lyrically, there’s ample repetition, yet the lyrics are also abstract and descriptive.  A prime example:

“Warm Leatherette melts
On your burning flesh
You can see your reflection
On the luminescent dash.”

Grace Jones kills it with her mix of singing and ‘talking’ the lyrics.  Did I mention that fact that Jones, well, she’s a bad ass?

4. Tori Amos, “Leather”

💿 Little Earthquakes • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 1992

“Look, I’m standing naked before you / Don’t you want more than my sex?” Woo! Those are the two, eyebrow raising, ear catching opening lines on 🎵 “Leather.” 🎵 “Leather” graces 💿 Little Earthquakes, the 1992, critically acclaimed debut album by 🏆 Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, 🎙 Tori Amos.  She continues the first verse as follows: “I can scream as loud as your last one / But I can’t claim innocence.” Intriguing to say the least.  The song is utterly sublime.

Amos isn’t nearly as risqué on the second and third verses, but equally effective and poetic. Her lyrics are on-point.  On the chorus is where this gifted singer/pianist mentions the leather, which isn’t the big idea/takeaway from the song.

“If love isn’t forever
And it’s not the weather
Hand me my leather.”

As awesome as the songwriting is, the music is equally captivating.  Amos’ pianistic skills are on display while the arrangement, with strings and some biting electric guitar riffs, are the cherry on top.

5. Flatbush Zombies, “Leather Symphony”

Ft. A$AP Twelvyy

💿 Vacation in Hell • 🏷 Glorious Dead Recordings • 📅 2018

“Bands, grams / Caught a jux and do my dance, yeah / Why they copy? They just fans, yeah / On my momma, I’m the man, yeah.” Okay… So, what exactly is a 🎵 “Leather Symphony”? Well, after listening to the seventh track from 🎙 Flatbush Zombies’ sophomore album, 💿 Vacation in Hell, we still don’t get a proper answer, LOL 😂.  First, and foremost, beyond the song’s title, there is NO MENTION OF LEATHER WHATSOEVER.  Worth noting, this song is performed by 🎙 Zombie Juice and featured guest, 🎙 A$AP Twelvyy.

Zombie Juice is focused on drip, smoking, and sex (specifically focuses on ‘ass’) on the first verse.  One of his most memorable, non-leather lines: “So much ass like Teyana Taylor.” Zombie Juice goes on to serve up the drippy chorus before A$AP Twelvyy gets into the mix on the second verse: “I’m a minute late, I’m a renegade / Twelvyy got a gauge, let me penetrate, pussy power KKK.” His wordplay is compelling and entertaining, even if we still wait for specifics on this proclaimed “leather symphony.”  Ultimately, this near-four-minute cut is alluring, even sans the leather.