Stuff I'm Listening To #87 - Cyndi Lauper - She Bop

Artist: Cyndi Lauper

Title: She Bop

Lyrics:
Wehell I see them every night in tight blue jeans
In the pages of a Blue Boy magazine
Hey I've been thinking of a new sensation
I'm picking up good vibration
Ooh she bop, she bop
 
Why?: I remember belting this song out loud when I was a kid with no clue and not a care in the world. Over 30 years later and I can still be caught belting out this song should it pop into my playlist. Only this time round, very much aware of what the song is about, but still not a care in the world (while I'm singing anyway). And that's apparently exactly what Cyndi wanted; a song kids would think was about dancing and would eventually grow up and figure it was something very different. I read in a couple of places in my travels on the internet that she recorded this song either topless or in the nude and was tickling herself... I guess there's something about clothing and shoes that make it hard to sing?** But I digress.

I loved that Cyndi Lauper was unapologetically weird. After all, her debut album title said it all "She's So Unusual". I think what I always liked most about Cyndi was that she always seemed to be mostly in control and having fun. 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' made it clear, life wasn't only about finding a guy. And if there was going to be a guy, he'd best give her space, because she wasn't going to have time for his jealous and possessive bullshit.

I remember at the age of nine really enjoying the video for 'She Bop' because it was amusing and it had this lovely non-conformist message that I latched onto. That message: It was ok to be myself.

For what it's worth, the video is still pretty awesome despite its age. Kudos for the 'Beefcake Charlys', quite possibly the best fake MC name ever.

I should point out that it was with some difficulty to chose the best favourite lyrics. These got chosen because they are personally topical at the moment, due to some thoughtful discussion between my friends about these guys who happened to be wearing a lot of double denim. 

**In the last month, I've read the following people (Mark Hollis, Shayne Carter, Michael Stipe, Martin Gore and now Cyndi Lauper) somehow got in to various states of undress to sing... from as little as taking their shoes off on stage (Mark Hollis) to only being in your socks (Shayne Carter) and to Michael Stipe ('Losing My Religion'), Martin Gore ('Somebody') and Cyndi Lauper ('She Bop') being completely naked recording their vocals. Hey... whatever works right?