When Cyndi Lauper burst onto the charts in 1983, she sang that “girls just want to have fun.” It was unusual for women to assume an inconsequential “masculine attitude”. The strangeness of the voice and the message were just two of the many other reasons for the success of the singer’s debut album. Furthermore, if it weren’t for her insistence, this door probably wouldn’t have been opened. Because what is now a feminist anthem was born quite the opposite of what Cindy sang.

First of all, Girls Just Want to Have Fun was written by a man, Robert Hazard, in 1979. The original version was the classic male view that women were just for fun. Robert, who co-wrote the beautiful Time After Time with Cindy, recorded a demo but did not release the single. He had a new wave band and when the record company invested in the solo career of the still-unknown Cindy, he was part of the team that was called to work on the recording material.

Cindy had a problem with everything about the song. The lyrics and the time didn’t please her. The title then! But that’s where the artist’s talent comes in. While the author used the word “fun” alluding to sex, the singer reversed the situation by adding a verse that changed everything.

Some boys take a beautiful girl
And hide her away from the rest of the world
I want to be the one to walk in the sun
Oh, girls, they want to have fun

Some boys pick up a beautiful girl
and hide it from the rest of the world
I want to be the one who walks openly in the sun
Oh, girls just want to have fun

With this change, authorized by Robert, the culture gained generation-defining success. In Cindy’s interpretation, the song speaks of the desire for equal rights, including sexual freedom (still taboo in the 1980s). With every recrimination, whether it came from her father, mother, or anyone who asked her what she wanted in life, the answer was simple: “I want to have fun”. Women were in control.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun was one of the biggest hits from Cindy’s debut album, making her a star and earning her several Grammys. What solidified the song’s importance was the fun video that accompanied it on MTV. At the singer’s insistence, the video featured unknown people and outside the beauty standards that were in vogue on TV. In the video, Cyndi walks through the streets of New York, having fun with men, women, young, old, and of any color or body type. If it’s ok today, it was innovative at the time. She wanted all the girls to be able to see themselves in the video and the song.

Thirty-eight years later, Girls Just Want To Have Fun is the anthem of equality and is celebrated by generations. It was a battle that Cyndi was no less afraid to face. She was right and created a classic.

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