Rolling Stone

The 200 Best Songs of The 1980s

by Rob Sheffield, November 23, 2023

#189: Mecca Normal, ‘I Walk Alone’ 1987

“An early proto-riot-grrrl pipe bomb. The only sound is the voice of punk poet Jean Smith, with the guitar of David Lester, about a woman walking by herself in a city and feeling like a target everywhere she goes. Every time she sings “I walk alone,” it hits deeper. A song designed to change the way you saw the world around you, and for many who heard it, it did and still does.”