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"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper. Written by Robert Hazard, it was released as the first single from her debut album, She's So Unusual, on October 18, 1983, by Epic Records. The song also appears in its original form on the 1994 compilation album Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some, the 1996 EP Wanna Have Fun and in a version with Puffy AmiYumi on the 2005 album The Body Acoustic. Lauper changed the lyrics as the Hazard's version was "misogynistic" according to her.

The song was acclaimed by old and contemporary critics, who called it "feminist anthem". It was a commercial success, became Lauper's first top-five hit on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached the peak position of two. It reached the top of the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New-Zealand and Norway and the top-five of many countries. The music video, directed by Ed Griles, portrayed Lauper with her friends and included some autobiographical parts. After the video was released on MTV, Lauper achieved popularity.

Background and development
After the breakup of her band [Blue Angel] and a cooling-off period, Cyndi Lauper found another musical direction and decided to pursue a solo career. However, she wasn't sure she wanted to record another effort. She stated in the Irwin Stambler's Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Folk, "I decided to just go ahead and do it, though I hadn't written many new songs. I had broken my partnership with John Turi—and I didn't like the idea of singing other people's songs. But for my debut album, producer Rick Chertoff and I selected songs that allowed me to keep my integrity and... I wrote some too." Chertoff brought "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", a song written by Robert Hazard in a quarter of an hour in a motel tub. He thought that it was an important song to the record,

"'I first heard it from Rob Hazard, who was trying to get his own record deal back then and eventually did. He had his own band called Robert Hazard & The Heroes. This particular song of his always struck me as being something interesting and fun and sort of poignant in its own way, and I knew that it was a cornerstone of my record with Cyndi.'"

Chertoff decided to take her to a live performance of Robert Hazard & The Heroes. However, Hazard's original version had been fashioned as an inflated male fantasy of female desire and Lauper said that she wouldn't do it. Chertoff tried to debate with her because she didn't want to do a "sexist song" but one day, she said : "All right, I'll do it." She changed the lyrics as she felt that the Hazard's version was "misogynistic." With Chertoff, she rewrote the lyrics and the music, particulary the bridge, and "saved the part of it that I liked." She explained,

"'He played me 'Girls...' and I said, well I ain't doing that song... because it wasn't what it ended up to be—which is something that I'll never forget that Rick did for me. I was so headstrong and so set. It was basically a very chauvinistic song. He said, ‘but wait, think about what it could mean, just think about it for a minute, forget all this other stuff, and think about what it could mean.’ I said, ‘Well how could I do that? Look at this and look at that.’ He said, ‘so change it’.'"

Recording
After Lauper agreed to record the song, Chertoff tried to find the better arrangement for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Chertoff and Lauper initially tried to make a reggae approach but they weren't satisfied with their decisions with the team production. Then, they ask somebody's help. In the meantime, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare were recording Infidels for Bob Dylan and Chertoff asked them to help them. Dunbar and Shakespeare went to work a day but the result didn't match what they had already recorded with the bassist Neil Jason and the drumer Anton Fig. Then, Chertoff used a guitar and a vox organ to create a basic melody. It would allow to guide the drums and replace the guide instruments. However, Chertoff decided to keep the drums and the basic melody. Then, the percussionist Eric Bazilian added a kind of electronic handclaps. After Lauper recorded the song, Rob Hyman played a keyboard solo. John Angello, an assistant engineer, explained, "It was like a big joke when we first did it, but then everyone was like, ‘That's kind of awesome'." The mixing was entirely manual due to the lack of automated material. William Wittman, an engineer, said, "We would do that again and again, editing in small pieces until everything was corrected, so the final mix probably has 100 little edits in it. That was instead of automation."

Composition and lyrics
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a pop rock track with New Wave influences. The song has a "bright rock" tempo. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alred Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of G major, with Lauper's vocal range spans from C4 to E5. The song has a basic sequence C–D–G–Em in the verses. Christopher Feldman, author of Billboard book of number 2 singles called the lyrics "bubbly dance tune" and added that they were nearly assimilated with her public image. In an interview dated April 16, 2006 with Deborah Solomon from The New York Times, the singer said that the lyrics were autobiographical because her mother and grandmother "had never fun." According to her, "the song was an anthem" and the lyrics spoke about "'We want to have a life, to have fun' [...] We don't want to be wearing the shackles."

Critical response
Old and contemporary critics acclamed "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Kevin East from Sensible Sound said that the song is an anthem to partying. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine said that "the reggae-hued anthem "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" emerged as one of the greatest pop masterpieces of the '80s." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic considered it as a call to arms. Steve Peake from About.com said that the song is iconic and added, "Melodically, it's a soaring success, and Lauper's singing is remarkably transcendent throughout." Gillian G. Gaar, author of She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll, described the single and corresponding video as a "strong feminist statement", an "anthem of female solidarity" and a "playful romp celebrating female camaraderie." Lisa A. Lewis, in her book Gender politics and MTV: voicing the difference, wrote, "The lyrical refrain, "Girls just want to have fun", acts as a powerful cry for access to the privileged realm of male-adolescent leisure and fun." Jay Cock from Time, considered the song as "a kind of antic feminist anthem." Susan Glen from PopMatters declared that the song "sounds damn near anachronistic [...] betray[s] the worse impulses of the ‘80s." She added, "whatever giddiness that was once harbored in these songs is categorically gone now, and it’s been replaced by a nasal annoyance." Terry Atkinson from Los Angeles Times praised the song, calling it a "disarming gem". The song was nominated at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance Female but lost the two nominations to Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It".

Chart performance
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was released on October 18, 1983 and became a worldwide success. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached a peak position of two on the issue dated March 10, 1984, for a total of twenty-five weeks spent in the chart. It had the same success in another charts, becoming the first Lauper's number one in Hot Dance/Club Play Songs on the issue dated March 24, 1984. On April 17, 1989, the song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the shipment of one million copies across United States. In 1984, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" achieved Lauper as the first female singer to generate four top 10 in Hot 100. The song placed at fifteen on year-end chart of 1984. In Canada, the song debuted at forty-six on the RPM issue dated February 11, 1984. After eight weeks, it topped the chart, following two weeks, and spent a total of twenty weeks in the chart. The song was certified double platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). The song was listed nine on RPM's year end chart, just behind her single "Time After Time".

In the United Kingdom, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was released on December 30, 1983. It debuted fifty on the UK Singles Chart and reached the second position three weeks, and was present for a total of twelve weeks. On February 1, 1983, the song was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Across the world, the song topped the chart in Australia, Ireland, Japan, Norway and New Zealand, the top five in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands et Sweden and the top ten in Germany an Switzerland. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" did not appear in France because the chart had not been created at the time but it was certified gold by the Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (SNEP) for the shipment of 500,000 copies across the country. Worldwide, the song has sold five million copies.

Development
The music video was directed by Edd Griles, who had previously worked with Blue Angel. It was shot in New York City and costed $1,500. The Lauper's participation in the production of the music video was also substantial. Dave Wolff, the Lauper's manager, enlisted, at her request, the video's producer and the director. She kept her mother to play her mother in the video and brought Wrestler Captain Lou Albano as her father. The music video premiered on MTV on October 12, 1983 and it was in heavy rotation for twenty weeks. Dave Wolff wanted to make a music video because "it was such a fun way to introduce Cyndi to the public."

Synopsis
The video has some autobiographical touches. The video begins by showing Lauper bounding home one morning after apparently staying out all night. She finds her mother hard at work preparing food in the kitchen. Her distress over her daughter's flagrant disregard for appropriate feminine behavior is expressed as she breaks an egg over her heart. The father lip-synched "What you gonna do with your life?" and Lauper pin his arm behind his back in a wrestling maneuver. According to Lisa A. Lewis, author of Gender politics and MTV: voicing the difference, this gesture replaced the situation and destabilized the father's authority and patriarchy, by symbolic extension. Lauper gesticulates and phones her girlfriends in photographic shots. Lauper exits her home to lead a band of her girlfriends through New York streets in a frenzied snake dance that turns women's experience of foreboding streets upside-down in a carnival-like display. The women push through a group of male constructions workers who function as symbols of female harassment on the street. At the end, the girls bring the men back to the Lauper's home to dance with wild abandon to records in the bedroom.

Reception
Holly Brubach from the Atlantic stated "Men begin to look like an awful self-important, dull bunch. Whether or not girls just want to have fun, they appear to be the only ones who know how." Bob Batchelor and Scott Stoddart, authors of The 1980s said that "the video illusrates the song, speaking of a girl who needs to defy her parents in order to have fun." He added, it "illustrates the song's intended message: that girls—young women—deserve just as much right to 'have fun' as young men, without society thinking less of them." Mary Ellen Brown, author of Television and women's culture: the politics of the popular, noted that the word was defined "in terms of doing what boys do" and their activities "devise in their attemps to create a complementary order of female fun". Frank Spotnitz fom Chicago Tribune called the video "joyous". Jessica Letkemann of Billboard said that "the clip is a '80s gem dor its sitcom-y vibe."

With the video, Cyndi Lauper was one of the first women to achieve popularity with her exposure on MTV. The music video won for "Best Female Video" at 1984 American Video Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. It won awards at International Film and TV Festival of N.Y. and Billboard Video Music Awards in 1984. This video was ranked at position forty-five on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos. In a 2011 poll by Billboard, the song's music video was voted the third best music video of the 1980s, behind Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Madonna's "Like a Prayer".

Live performances
Lauper has performed "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" on most of her world tours including the 1985 Fun Tour. The Fun Tour in 1985 had Lauper performing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" as the last song of the tour. She performed the song on the 1987 True Colors World Tour as a part of the encore. She wore a patterned coat with a dalmatian-spotted scarf and harlequin sunglasses. The performance can be found on the video Cyndi Lauper in Paris, filmed in Paris, France, on March 12, 1987. On her A Night to Remember World Tour, she performed a reggae version of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." She performed the song on the 1993 Hat Full of Stars World Tour as a part of encore. Like her previous tour, she performed a reggae version of the song with a dance-hall rap by Pierre Andre, her percussionist.

Twelve Deadly Cyns World Tour

Sisters of Avalon Tour

Wildest Dreams Tour

Do You Believe? Tour

Lauper performed the song as supporting act on the Cher Farewell Tour.

The At Last World Tour

The Body Acoustic Tour

On the 2007 True Colors Tour, Lauper performed the song wearing a long red wig.

Bring Ya to the Brink World Tour

Memphis Blues Tour

Legacy
After its release, the song became a feminist anthem and garnered media's attention. In his book Feminist Phoenix: the rise and fall of a feminist counterculture, Jerome L. Rodnitzky said that "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" helped Lauper to be quickly embraced by the feminists and posed for the Newsweek issue of March 4, 1985. Ms. magazine noted, "if Helen Reddy's recording of "I Am Woman" was about anger and a new collective pride, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"" was "about a newer defiant joy and the celebration of our strength". With the song and the video, Lauper began to attract people and some fans began to dress like her, a phenomenom that was similar to Madonna. In the Lucy O'Brien's She Bop, Lauper recalled, "At the time of 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' I was shocked at the reaction. I'd go out on stage and the audience would be filled with girls screaming, ripping at my clothes. I'd never heard girls screamin over a woman before."

The video became also popular in the media. The press stated that she was the leader of the news women rockers and feminists praised her for "stressing individuality over sexuality" unlike Madonna. Her clothes and her manners created fear to some people who were afraid that her image may cross "into a cartoon-character persona." Lauper replied, "I`m not going to buy the thing off the rack because you tell me that looks good. I'm going to buy what I think looks good and put together things that I like, because that`s creative dressing." Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj was also influenced by the music video and it serves as a inspiration for the music video of her single "Girls Fall Like Dominoes". Minaj stated "When I saw Cyndi Lauper's videos as a kid I wanted to jump into the TV and run down the street with her and shout, 'girls just wanna have fun'. In my head I've always wanted to be that crazy person. She's one of the people who inspired me."

Track listing

 * US/CAN 7" Single
 * 1) "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" – 3:55
 * 2) "Right Track Wrong Train" – 4:40


 * US/CAN 12" Single
 * 1) "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Extended Version) – 6:08
 * 2) "Fun With V. Knutsn" (Instrumental) – 7:10
 * 3) "Xtra Fun" – 5:05


 * EU 12" Maxi Single
 * 1) "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Extended Version) – 6:08
 * 2) "Fun With V. Knutsn" (Instrumental) – 7:10
 * 3) "Xtra Fun" – 5:05


 * UK 7" Single
 * 1) "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" – 3:55
 * 2) "Right Track Wrong Train" – 4:40

Credits and personnel

 * Cyndi Lauper - songwriter, vocals
 * Robert Hazard - songwriter
 * Rick Chertoff - producer
 * Lennie Petze - executive producer
 * Arthur Baker - mixing
 * Elliot Scheiner - engineer
 * Tom Swift - engineer assistant

Credits adapted from the album liner notes.

Cover versions and use in popular culture
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was covered by many artists along time. In 1985, Weird Al Yankovic parodied the song and made a version titled "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch". It was included on his album Dare to Be Stupid. Eugene Chardboune of Allmusic said, ""Girls Just Want to Have Lunch" bears the distinction of actually being related in philosophy to the original it is based on, a first for Yankovic". Greg Laswell covered the song and his version was used on the MTV's The Hills. In 2008, Emilie Autumn covered the song in it original form and recorded three remixes of the song. In April 20, 2010, female celebrities, including actress Caroline Quentin, model Danielle Lloyd and singer Sonique (herself a breast cancer survivor), recorded a version of the song in aid of the Cancer Research UK charity.

The song was used in many movies like Clueless (1995). It was covered by Deborah Galli, Tami Holbrook and Meredith Marshall in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985). The song was used in an episode of MTV's Daria, "Legends of the Mall", for a fantasy sequence. It was also sung by Emily Deschanel playing the title role in the TV series Bones in the 2008 episode "The Wannabe in the Weeds". It was used in an episode of The Simpsons, "Lisa's First Word". As the flashback begins in 1983, a young Homer strolls down the street, singing the song. In 2012, the song was covered by Cory Monteith in the TV series Glee's episode "I Kissed a Girl". The cover version was released as a single and debuted at number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated December 17, 2011.

Background and composition
In 1994, Lauper was working on her first greatest hits album, Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some. The genesis of a remake came when the singer and her band [Blue Angel] "ripped apart" the original version of the song during her Hat Full of Stars Tour (1993). Lauper decided to record a remake titled "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Described as a reggae-style song, it uses the intro from Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love". The song was featured in the film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.

Reception
Jim Bessman from Billboard said, "As the title suggests, the single is a reworking of Lauper's debut hit—but not a reversal of direction." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic wrote that the song tacked the compilation. "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was a failure in United States. Released on August 8, 1995, the song reached the Billboard Hot 100 at number 87 the week of September 23, 1995. It was a commercial success in Europe. The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at 13 and peaked at four. Elsewhere, the song reached the top ten in France, Ireland and New Zealand and the top 40 in Sweden and Switzerland.

Track listings and formats
US CD Single
 * 1) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Single Edit) – 3:39
 * 2) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Mikey Bennett's Carnival Version (Edited)) – 4:09
 * 3) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Sly & Robbie's Home Grown Version) – 4:16
 * 4) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Junior Vasquez Remix Pop Goes The Dancehall) – 5:04
 * 5) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Original Version) – 3:54

Japanese CD Single
 * 1) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Single Edit) – 3:42
 * 2) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Mikey Bennett's Carnival Version (Edited)) – 4:12
 * 3) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Sly & Robbie's Home Grown Version) – 4:16
 * 4) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Junior Vasquez Remix Pop Goes The Dancehall) – 5:02

EU 12" Single
 * 1) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Pop Goes The Dancehall) – 5:04
 * 2) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Dancehall Main) – 5:46
 * 3) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Harder Dancehall Remix) – 5:46
 * 4) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Home Grown Version) – 4:16
 * 5) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Lounge Mix) – 6:12
 * 6) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Lounge Dub) – 6:00
 * 7) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Carnival Version) – 6:04

UK CD Single
 * 1) "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Single Edit) – 3:39
 * 2) "Hat Full of Stars" – 4:27

Credits and personnel

 * Cyndi Lauper - Singing, producing
 * Robert Hazard - Writing
 * Lolly Vegas - Writing
 * Jimmy Bralower - Producing
 * William Wittman - Mixing

Credits adapted from the album liner notes.