1. Slow, Hot & Sweaty – JJ Grey and Mofro
If that bassline doesn’t do it to you, the lyrics will.
2. Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers
Such a sad song with such unsexy lyrics, yet somehow…
3. Sandai Kozhi – A.R. Rahman
The ultimate make-up sex song lyrics. And if you don’t know Tamil – it’s okay – some things translate anyway…
4. Inji Idupazhagi – Ilayaraja
I, a grown and some say shameless woman, cannot listen to this without blushing. Can you?
5. Paiyyada – Aruna Sairam
The erotic longing of this song by the 17th century poet Kshetrayya in Aruna Sairam’s husky voice… Sexy is cerebral too, no? That’s why I looked up the translation…
6. El Chicano – Sabor a Mi
There’s a time for the flagrance of Besame Mucho (anyone’s version – melancholic like Cesaria Evora or flamboyant like Lila Downs), and then there’s a time for this subtle sensuality…
7. Soha – Mil Pasos
Sshhh.. Don’t think, just listen.
8. Billie Holiday – Lover, Come Back To Me (Clef Records, 1952)
There are many recordings of this song, but this one is so delightful that you hear it as a siren song, a seduction, and not a lament. Which lover, long gone or not, could resist?
9. Bizhu – Palpitations
A songbird you may not have heard of, but should listen to, gives us this peppy-as-a-crush number.
10. Glory Box – Portishead
Because difficult women do it better.
Tune in to the playlist of all of Sharanya Mannivannan's Sexy Saturday Songs here.
Sharanya Manivannan is the author of four books, including the award-winning The High Priestess Never Marries.
