This next example of an unlikely cover is a little hard to swallow. Can it really be that Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 girl-power anthem was actually first written and recorded by a man?
Indeed it was. Singer-songwriter Robert Hazard wrote the song in 1979 and recorded this demo, though he opted not to put the track on his 1982 self-titled EP. Lauper worked with Hazard to rewrite some of the lyrics from a woman’s perspective and put her own musical stamp on the song. Her debut single, it became a worldwide hit and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Hazard went on to release a trio of new wave albums in the mid 80s, then a trio of country albums in the mid 00s. He died in 2008 of pancreatic cancer at just 60 years old.
My father says, “My boy, what do you want from your life?”
Father dear, you are the fortunate one
Girls just wanna have fun
Yeah, girls just wanna have fun
Come home with the morning light
My mother says, “My boy, you’ve got to start living right.”
Don’t worry, mother dear, you’re still number one
Girls just wanna have fun
These girls just wanna have fun
That’s all they really want
Some fun
When the working day is done
Girls just wanna have fun
Yeah, girls just wanna have fun
Some guys take a beautiful girl
They try to hide her away from the rest of the world
All my girls have got to walk in the sun
‘Cause girls just wanna have fun
Yeah, girls just wanna have fun
I know your love for him
Is deep as day is long
I know you’d never be the
Thing to do him wrong
But when I knock on the door
I’m close now, you could come
It really wasn’t important
‘Cause girls just wanna have fun
Yeah, girls just wanna have fun
It’s all they really want
Good fun
When the working day is done
Girls just wanna have fun
Yeah, girls just wanna have fun
(Just wanna, just wanna)
Come on, boy
(Just wanna, just wanna)
Oh yeah
(Just wanna, just wanna)
You are the fortunate one
Girls just wanna have fun
Yeah, girls just wanna have fun
(Just wanna, just wanna)
Come here, boy
(Just wanna, just wanna)
Oh, yeah
(Just wanna, just wanna)
You are the fortunate one
Girls just wanna have fun
Yeah, girls just wanna have fun
Meet Me In Montauk 
Lauper definitely improved on the original to make this her signature song.
I remember Lauper’s version was a favorite in my aerobics class in the 1980’s 😊
WTF?! Yeah, this doesn’t work from a man’s perspective at all!
Was he saying that his parents were more fortunate because their generation could sustain serious long term commitments?