The Greatest Cover Songs of All-time: 7. Cyndi Lauper - "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"

About this episode

The episode explores how Cyndi Lauper transformed Robert Hazard's original male perspective of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' into a feminist anthem.

Robert Hazard wrote "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" in 1979 from male perspective—guy at party singing about girls who want fun with him. Philadelphia demo, never commercially released. 1983: Cyndi Lauper needed debut album material. Producer played her Hazard's demo. Her reaction: why would I sing a guy's perspective? Then realized: flip it. Make it female declaration, not male observation. Changed lyrics, shifted perspective to women claiming independence. September 1983: peaked #2 US, MTV icon, first VMA for Best Female Video. Became feminist anthem—women's marches still play it. Most people don't know it's a cover. Garrett Fisher explores how perspective shift transformed male fantasy into female empowerment anthem. Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus . No plug-ins needed! Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start…

Topics covered

• cover songs
• female empowerment
• music history
• Cyndi Lauper
• feminist anthems
• perspective shift

Keywords

• Cyndi Lauper
• Robert Hazard
• cover songs
• feminism
• music history
• Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
• MTV

Sponsors

Caloroga Shark Media

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

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