It's what's beneath that mass of blonde hair and thick mascara. A.K.A. It's not the father and definitely not the boots.

You may have known her to be Frank Sinatra's daughter or the girl with the boots made for walking or you may not know her at all. You may know her by name because Lana Del Rey said she's one of her influences, that she's a "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" or because you heard a Glee version of her song so you looked for it in YouTube. Well either you know her or not is not really my problem.

Lately I've been having trouble sleeping and exams are being thrown at me from all directions and most of the sleepless nights I spend with the naughty little Sinatra girl. I remember first hearing her on Sunday radio when I was just a kid. My mom used to listen to the radio in full volume on Sunday mornings (1. music makes cleaning not that tiring 2. the radio screaming early in the morning will definitely make us get out of bed and help her).

I have a certain inclination to women with deep and raspy singing voices (i.e. Kim Carnes has the best raspy voice in her Bette Davis Eyes) and Nancy Sinatra is one of them. She has this haunting seductive voice that gets even better because of the way she stares, like she has a secret, like she's not happy at all and she has this certain Nancy Sinatra swagger – a provocative yet square and glamorous bad girl.

I have handpicked fifteen songs that I like most. I swear it was really hard to keep it at fifteen. Actually I was only planning to choose five, and then it became ten, and now it's fifteen, and I thought to myself this has got to end. (It's hard to rank them in number too.)  Anyway, tell me you didn't feel any fondness to her or her songs after taking the time listening. Or not.

15. Burning Down The Spark – If you have watched Django Unchained, you'd probably couldn't help but think about it while listening to the first parts of Burning Down the Spark. And then it gets a bit jazzy cowboy with the strings and horns. And you'd probably couldn't help but sing to "All these memories still come to haunt me."

14. Sugar Town (1967) – Zooey Deschanel has sung this and she has done good. This song is pink clouds, rainbows and cups of sunshine in a sexy catsuit.

13. Let Me Kiss You (2004) – Morrissey made this song for Nancy (a big plus!). It's Morrissey all the way but it's Nancy through and through

12. Light My Fire (1969) – It's not a secret that I love The Doors more than anything that's why this cover is in the list. Too seductive and too lustful. That's all.

11. Kinky Love (1976) – Though it sounds like a song from a chick flick, Kinky Love was allegedly banned because of its highly suggestive content, "I need you kinky love. Take me inside and let the honey slide." The 90's cover by the Pale Saints is noteworthy.

Melusina

“She is Melusina, the water goddess, and she is found in hidden springs and waterfalls in any forest in Christendom, even in those as far away as Greece... A man may love her if he keeps her secret and lets her alone when she wants to bathe, and she may love him in return until he breaks his word, as men always do, and she sweeps him into the depths with her fishy tail, and turns his faithless blood to water. The tragedy of Melusina, whatever language tells it, whatever tune it sings, is that a man will always promise more than he can do to a woman he cannot understand.” 

From the book The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Women are mysterious beings. They chose not to be, they’re just created that way. It isn’t a bad thing but they are often misunderstood - because men are creatures so often used to what they can handle, the pleasing existence, the tangible reality. Men usually cannot handle the mystery the envelopes women. And so, the cycle of attraction, jealousy, chaos and tragedy goes on and on.

Well, what can we do? We were made with this weapon; this aura of mystery.

S (with love)