“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper is now considered one of the biggest girl anthems, but the lyrics weren’t always as quirky and innocent.
The 69-year-old singer revealed on PBS’ “Find Your Roots” that the lyrics to her most famous song were originally quite different from the current ones: “Girls just want to have sex,” but she wasn’t having it.
She said jokingly:
“What am I supposed to do? Have a lobotomy, walk around and can-can?”
The cheesy lyrics left nothing to the imagination, which is probably why she decided to change them herself.
“What it was about was the guy’s version of – what do you think? ‘Girls just want to have fun. Ain’t we lucky? Nudge, nudge.'”
She said with finality:
“I was like, ‘Yeah, girls just want to have sex – is that what the hell this is? Because I’m not doing this.'”
Lauper’s song was released in 1983, and it was accompanied by a music video.
On YouTube, the music video has 1.1 billion views, 5.5 million likes, and over 168,000 comments.
“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was one of Lauper’s biggest hits, but it wasn’t always associated with her name.
In fact, the song’s genius was singer-songwriter Robert Hazard. He released it in 1979, but it was later picked up and covered a few years later by the “Time After Time” singer.
Lauper’s version is the most well-known; after all, it was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammys and has been covered by a number of artists since her release.
It was also a huge success on the charts. It reached No. 1 on several charts around the world, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, Norway, and others, and it reached No. 2 in the United States and the United Kingdom.
While her most popular song is a cover, Lauper is a talented songwriter. She has written songs for artists such as Billy Joel, Susanna Hoffs, The Hooters, and others.
Her career has spanned decades, and she remains as popular and relevant today as she ever was.
According to Rolling Stone, Lauper collaborated with country music superstars Dolly Parton and Gloria Estefan, as well as Belinda Carlisle and Debbie Harry, on a song called “Gonna Be You.”
Diane Warren wrote the song to commemorate the singers’ friendship and talent.
Warren said:
“I wanted to write a song that celebrated these women’s deep friendship. Since 80 was in the title I got a crazy idea, why not get some of the most iconic singers from the 80s, who are still amazing and always will be, to all sing it?”
The song and accompanying music video will be available in early February.
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