Things have been relatively good in my life, and when that happens after a big change, I find myself feeling some type of unease. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten to a point where the external has to add up with the internal. To make sure things remain good on the outside. I’ve got to make sure that what has been hidden in corners of my mind, get some time up front, less they fester and rot everything they touch. I start in the 80’s when everything feels so distant and essential. Or at least that’s where I went for this week’s Sunday Morning Record.
Last Tuesday I began a five week poetry workshop exploring “Experiments in Surrealism”. One of the reasons I signed up for this workshop is because I find myself wanting to write about being a disfellowshipped Jehovah Witness through poetry and I thought surrealism could be the perfect vehicle to help me tell this story. This is very scary territory for me, as every time I ponder this subject I feel a rock begin to assemble in my gut, one piece of sediment at a time. I’m lightheaded and slightly hyperventilating as I type this. I was disfellowshipped over two decades ago and I always think I'm over it. An idea proved to be as fickle as the familial bonds I thought connected me to most of the people I grew up with. I’m not over losing my friends and family to religion.I can’t blame them if they are taught that the best way to love me, is to keep me away until I repent. It’s a part of the whole tough love ethos. I can’t blame people for belief. Things are a little different and still evolving now as the organization changed their treatment of the disfellowshipped back in early spring. Things are changing and if I’m meant to change with them, I must interrogate what I went through to attempt to find peace. This is all so very dramatic.
The class' first assignment called to interrogate a “big bang” event in our lives and while I’ve had several, the one that was in the forefront of my mind was the reason I signed up for the workshop. Here I am face to face with my big bad and I wasn’t prepared. I spent most of the week ruminating on life after disfellowshipment, afraid to type the poem I’d penned during the first session. No fears dear reader, it has been transcribed and submitted right before I began writing this, so the themes are bright in my psyche. I keep hearing one Cyndi Lauper song rattle around my days; Witness.
Back around Thanksgiving 2022, my Mother-in-law took me to this record temple, George’s Song Shop, in Johnstown Pennsylvania. George’s website say they are “AMERICA'S OLDEST RECORD STORE”, and they specialize in 45’s or 7 inch records. I was taken to this store right when I began building a 7 inch arsenal so I can play a party with nothing else. Something really fun about watching someone DJ with 45’s. The precision needed is greater than with your standard 12” record, as they tend to be more delicate and the needle jerks a lot easier. They also typically have one song per side, so they have a great loud sound and your choices are a lot more fine tuned. All that to say I love DJing with 45’s. I left that store with a serious haul, and had a great time going through each record. A fun part is that you usually know the A side song but the B side is usually more of a discovery. A song that you might’ve not listened to closely in the album, and sometimes weren’t in the album at all, and act more as a bonus track. That’s how I first heard Witness by Cyndi Lauper, from the album She’s So Unusual, which is this week’s Sunday Morning Record. I’ll talk more about the song when I get there.
Cyndi Lauper is an Icon to so many people, myself included. When I was growing up, she was one of the people who stood apart, for every single thing she was, from her fashion, to her involvement with Captain Lou Albano in professional wrestling, to her perfect encapsulation of a specific type of New York, to her phenomenal voice. Growing up she was one of the rock stars that were always around, and stood out from the rest. I didn’t know much about her, other than I kinda wanted to either be her, or be her best friend. I recently saw a music documentary about her that I enjoyed very much, called “Let The Canary Sing”. Check it out if you have the time.
I got so excited to write about this album that I rewatched Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Okay so the thing about watching films that were your childhood favorites is that you have to be forgiving of yourself and your bad taste. It was a fun dance contest movie, and I remembered many of the beats and lines, but things that impressed me back then, felt very basic upon rewatch. One of which was Lynne Stone, as portrayed by Helen Hunt, and her final entrance into the dance party as the new Ms. Dance TV. In my recollection her chariot was grander and so was her outfit and hair. She didn’t look bad or anything, it’s just it was all bigger back then. I didn’t even remember that the titular song isn’t sung by Cyndi Lauper, but instead was covered by Deborah Galli, Tami Holbrook, and Meredith Marshall, in what amounted to be a proto “Kidz Bop” version. Also let’s not confused the bop in “Kidz Bop” with the bop from “She Bop”, or we’ll enter really a sticky mess. If you want to watch it for some nostalgia purpose, go ahead, but trust me, I did it so you wouldn’t have to. Enough of that, let's dive right into She’s So Unusual.
Side A
1 Money Changes Everything
It sure does. Ah the 80’s. This song starts feeling a little like Bowie’s Heroes, but Cyndi is doing the exact opposite vocally. She comes out loud and weird right away, but never loses the depth of her voice. When the chorus lands you can tell she’s one of the singers that holds her voice in, like a dam, letting out what’s appropriate for the time. She’s giving attitude, authority and self confidence. What she’s singing about isn’t an easy topic, but Cyndi is unflinching in her execution, wailing right till the fade out. She so special.
2 Girls Just Want to Have Fun
One of the most popular songs of this album, and it’s first single, this song has inspired loads of people. I watched the video when I was a small, and I wanted to be one of the girls having fun. At one point in my life this was probably my favorite pop song. Cyndi served her version of feminism and it was loud, sure and inclusive. This is the image of Coney Island that always pops up in my head when I think of it. This is an anthem that has always been present in my life, and I’m all the better for it. I owe this song and ethos a great deal. She’s so iconic.
3 When You Were Mine
Every generation has their songs of love’s lost. I don’t hear this one nearly as much on the radio, but it’s a certified bop. Not that type of bop yet, but we’re getting there. This feels like the perfect song for a young love longing scene in a romantic coming of age drama. Cyndi’s voice really flexes when she hits those high notes. She’s so powerful.
4 Time After Time
We’re finally here. Right in the face of one of the best and most awe inspiring pop ballads in recorded history. The music is perfect and slightly more upbeat than expected. Her voice is doing something different here. It’s opened all the way up. In the documentary she talks about not wanting this to be the first single because she’ll get stuck in a “type”, and I can understand what she means, but I don’t know in what world this doesn’t become one of the biggest songs ever. The doc covers this, but if you don’t watch it, at least watch this duet of the song with the legendary Patti Labelle. It moves me to tears every time. She’s so perfect.
Side B
5 She Bop
Okay we’re at the other here. The song that apparently caught everyone by surprise. The song that made its way through every radio station before people found out it’s about masturbation. The doc has a clip of her explaining it to famous sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer. It’s delightful. I didn’t know any of that back when I was a kid. I knew it was fun and catchy and I loved signing she bop. I get the words now and I think they make an important statement. Self pleasure is for everyone, and nobody should be made ashamed of it. That’s part of the JW shame I’m still trying to get away from. She’s so wise.
6 All Through the Night
Fairytale Core meets a dub reggae under beat. It’s all in there. Her voice soars here. This feels like a great prom slow dance song. I could hear her sing the chorus of this song over and over again. In combination with the fairytale core music her voice has a quality that makes you believe every word in absolute earnest. This song gets better when you lip sync it in the mirror with a brush microphone. She’s so magical.
7 Witness
I have no idea what she was singing about, but when I discovered this song less than two years ago, all I hear is how I feel and felt about the Jehovah Witnesses. This song is straight up reggae with some ska tendencies. I think this one is way before its time. I think it should be hit today, or whenever ska went mainstream for a quick minute with No Doubt and Sublime. To me hearing her sing that hook over and over again, feels like a chant for personal freedom.
“I don't want to be
I don't want to be
I don't want to be a witness
No I don't want to be
I don't want to be
I don't want to be witness”
It perfectly describes what I felt as a teenager and young adult. As a JW, you can only get disfellowshipped if you get baptized, and I hurried to that step at age 14. I knew I shouldn’t have done it and felt it the day the plunge took place. I didn’t want to be a witness but I wanted to make my parents and the adults around me proud. It was the only possibility of a life I knew. I wish I had the courage of my conviction and sang that song out loud to anyone who would hear. I was removed from the organization years after I stopped being an active member, and moved to a “worldly” way of life. My action made it clear I didn’t want to be a Witness, but when I moved back with my Mother after a failure in adulting, they swooped right in and excommunicated me from my family and the people I grew up with. It’s tough out there, but today Cyndi is helping me find the strength to confront these unresolved feelings. She’s so inspirational.
8 I'll Kiss You
Punk Rock! Or as close to it as you can get in a pop album. This song is a ton of fun. She’s almost rap singing in this one and it’s so punk. The promise of a kiss is intimidating and seductive in the most punk of ways. The music is a bit more funk than punk but they’re accomplishing the same thing here. It’s her voice that gives this song its edge. She’s so punk.
9 He's so Unusual
This one is an old timey intro to the next song that’s reminiscent of Betty Boop or rather “Baby” Esther Lee jones. She’s so much fun.
10 Yeah Yeah
This is a rock song that reminds me of the B-52’s without that guy’s hype man voice. It’s a rocker with saxophone and some of the same boop-like affectations as the intro. It’s perfect 80’s montage music. It's serving fun at the rock club and fun in our hearts. She’s so wonderful!
And that’s She’s So Unusual. A nice slice of the 80’s for your Sunday morning. Hopefully you feel inspired, rocked and moved with Cyndi Lauper’s classic banger. Thanks for riding with me through this one, it was a bit harder than I expected, but many good things are. Please enjoy your weekend and have a great week. Join me next week for another Sunday Morning Record.
P.S.
Here’s a picture of my dog Chance with his new haircut.