Cyndi Lauper is an American singer, songwriter and actress whose mostly known for her song “Girls Just want to have fun” in the 1980s. She grew up in Queens, NY and dropped out of High school to ended up singing in nightclubs and working random jobs. She co-formed the band Blue Angel with another musician but the band later dissolved once it took off. “Girls Just want to have fun” was her first single as a solo artist and the sing became a huge part of 80’s culture. Due to the music video coming out, it set a fashion trend for bold, bright, outrageous clothes. Miley Cyrus is and American singer and actress who was born to a country singer named Billy Ray Cyrus and whose godmother was Dolly Parton. Miley Cyrus had begun acting from a young age and eventually ended up on a show called Hannah Montana where she also ended up having a singing career. The two had actually mey at the 1008 grammy awards where Lauper suggested to Cyrus to cover the song. Although originally written by a man, Lauper had changed up the lyrics a little and the song became a female empowerment anthem to show the world that no matter what a woman looked like, they do whatever they want. The second verse of the song gives that exact feeling saying:
“The phone rings, in the middle of the night
My father yells, “What you gonna do with your life?”
Oh daddy dear, you know you’re still number one
But girls, they wanna have fun
Oh girls just wanna have”
Right from the beginning of the song, there’s a clear difference between the two versions. While Lauper’s version begins with what sounds like a glissando, a funky sounding guitar, bass, a snare drum for the down beat and the and a synth ( maybe Im not too sure) playing on the offbeat. Miley begins with a faster tempo, a guitar repeating a note, string instruments in the background, some toms playing and another guitar playing a higher version of the chorus. At 1:15 in Mileys version, the song break before the next verse is filled with all the instruments that were originally playing with the guitar soloing and some vocals in the back. But at 1:25 in Lauper’s version, theres a instrument that solos and the synth, snare and bass In the background. The lyrics and the melody are essentially the same, Miley’s version is louder, faster, incorporated some strings and is more guitar driven. Due to Miley’s tempo being faster the song is almost a minute shorter than Lauper’s. However at the end of both songs, they decrescendo and end with a fade out. Cyndi Lapuers version of the song sounds more fit for the 80’s and reminds the listener to have fun. Miley Cyrus’s version is more rock /pop punk driven and, since she was a child star, could be considered a song she sang because she had the desire to have fun with her friends instead of being overworked.
