Cyndi Lauper: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"

A story needs conflict. Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” has three acts: A rebellious working girl does battle with (a) her mom, (b) her dad, and (c) her oppressive boyfriend.

This girl works hard! She has to left off steam. And so she returns home “in the morning light.” She fields phone calls “in the middle of the night.” She insists on being the one “to walk in the sun.”

There’s nothing petulant in her response to her antagonists. Let those antagonists worry. Breezily, Ms. Lauper offers her message: “Girls just wanna have fun.”

The words are simple and unpretentious--and that takes a great deal of work. The song reminds me of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.” In both songs, there is some subtle attention to economics. “Oh, mother dear, we’re not the fortunate ones...” “Man, I ain’t getting nowhere; I’m just living in a dump like this...”

Both songs are about the need to make some noise--regardless of your circumstances.

Lauper took a man’s rough draft--her song was initially written from “a guy’s perspective,” and the thought makes my head spin--and Lauper said, “We’re going to make some changes.”

It’s a perfect song, and that’s been said before. But it bears repeating.

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