What it all comes down to/
Is that everything’s gonna be fine fine fine/
’cause I’ve got one hand in my pocket/
And the other one is giving a high five

— Hand In My Pocket by Alanis Morissette

Yep, the message was loud and clear as music, girl power and first-person narratives came together on the Someplace Else stage on March 12, a few days after International Women’s Day. From female empowerment songs to feminist anthems, ‘She Rocks — A tribute to the women who rock our world’ had vocalists Tanya Sen, Arunima Dasgupta, Anita Basu Mallick, Suyasha Sengupta and Jayashree Singh saluting the sheroes — influential and important voices — in pop music. Post-gig, the five women vocalists spoke to t2 about some of the songs they performed.

A medley of Chain of Fools and Respect by Aretha Franklin
Tanya Sen: It was the best opening... very powerful.
Arunima Dasgupta: Aretha is the queen of soul. And she is still rocking.

Simply The Best by Tina Turner
Arunima: It is a good rocking song. We heard a couple of Tina Turner songs and decided to
do this.

Don’t Speak by No Doubt
Tanya: Don’t Speak is one of my fave songs. And I’m so happy that I finally got to do it with a band.

You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette
Tanya: Whenever I sing a song, I get into the story. And I feel that I’ve become the character. To an extent, it is like acting. The song may not be applicable to my life, but I’ve to mean the words. You have to feel that it is your story, and only then can it be a good cover. And You Oughta Know is such a powerful song. This is a song that made Alanis who she is.  
Arunima: I feel, in some way, every woman connects with this song. The song just makes you feel powerful. And it’s a very sarcastic song. I remember we used to wait for it to come on MTV.

Rolling In The Deep by Adele
Tanya : The song involves a lot of vocal changes... and I have to be on guard with Adele songs. Rolling In The Deep is very technical. Adele songs have these ups and downs, and it is really challenging to sing them. She starts low and then goes high... on top of that she does a lot of modulations, and you don’t get time to breathe. And one shouldn’t just blindly copy her, then it won’t work. Keeping the technical bits in mind, I did this song in my own way.   
 

Animal Instinct by The Cranberries
Tanya: I have been performing at SPE for 10 years and almost every time, I have got requests to sing Zombie. But we had got tired performing Zombie again and again. So we decided to go with Animal Instinct.

I Think I’m Paranoid by Garbage
Tanya: Shirley Manson (vocalist) is just amazing.
Arunima: It is difficult to do these songs live, there are lots of layers to them. Shirley Manson is one of the most powerful women singers of our time. We chose songs that were slightly darker in texture and tone since we didn’t want this to be a pretty, girlie thing.

Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones
Arunima: Norah Jones is one of my faves. Don’t Know Why is a beautiful song. It sounds mellow and pretty, but the lyrics are very strong.

Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper
Tanya: The final song could not have been anything else other than Girls Just Want To Have Fun. You need to have fun with this song, and end the gig on a high, happy note.
Arunima: I love Cyndi. She has a mad voice.
 

Text: Arindam Chatterjee
Pictures: Rashbehari Das