17 Aug 2009
Easy Listening
Aside from
being slightly homesick already, I’m constantly coming down with a severe case
of nostalgia. The cause? It seems that Ireland enjoys playlists gathered from
the late 80s and early 90s: music that I grew up with and haven’t heard since
my eighth-grade farewell dance. In addition to the throwbacks, most bars I’ve
been to have picked one or two current songs, i.e. Pokerface by Lady GaGa, and
played it over and over and over again. And no one seems to tire of it.
I was in
Honest To Goodness this afternoon for lunch, and I heard a song that I’ve never
heard before: I Kissed A Girl and I Liked It. (Not sure if that’s the real
title, but you know what song I mean.) Let me clarify; I have actually heard
this song before, living in a community as I was and not in a hole. In fact, it
caused such an uproar with suburban Kansas mothers, that a resident of Lawrence
could not have helped but to hear it at some point during their daily routines.
However, that was the version sung by a woman. A woman kissing another woman
and hoping her boyfriend doesn’t mind. Parents were so panicked that their
daughters might start becoming lesbians, exchanging cherry Chapsticks and
catching all sorts of nasty contagious gay traits. But the gays in town were
quite pleased. Here was a song openly played on the radio supporting
girl-on-girl action. However, the version I heard in Honest to Goodness was
sung by a man. But it kept all the same lyrics.
Let’s delve
into the plot of this should-win-a-Grammy song: the singer has a boyfriend, is
kissing girls, and liking it and her cherry flavored lips. So now I’m confused.
Is this adaption trying to say the reverse of the original? That gays should be
going back in the closet and trying
things out with the opposite sex? OR is this a different kind of equality
issue? Men should be able to cover women’s songs and vice–versa, no matter the
content?
I’m probably
digging too deep, and I don’t know the answer to any of the above questions.
You’ll have to ask the singer, but I didn’t catch his name. Either way, male or
female, this song succeeds in getting stuck in your head for hours after
hearing it. And isn’t that what music from any era is all about?
Looking
forward to singing along with the gay community,
An American
in Dublin