I Kissed a Girl.
I read in the paper today that some pop starlet has a hit single right now titled, "I Kissed a Girl." It's your basic disco biscuit fare, with a little bit of homo-eroticism thrown in the mix. I appreciate homo-eroticism as much as the next girl, but I remember too fondly Jill Sobule's folk-pop morsel of the same name, which came out *looks at calendar* 13 years ago. (Wow, time flies.) To me, this was the good ol' days, back before bisexuality went mainstream, back before bi-curious college chicks started traipsing around in the straight male spotlight. Jill Sobule approaches the topic with such delightful innocence. She doesn't play it sexy for the camera, she just tells her story of sexual curiosity with humor and honesty. It's such a relief from Katy Perry's oversexed, over-marketed, overrated vamping.
YOU: What about slash, Jean? Isn't that an appropriation of homosexuality by the straights, too?
ME: Alas, it can easily be interpreted that way. But at its core, slash is still a bunch of women writing down their fantasies and sharing them with other women. (That's pretty damn queer, if you ask me.) When House and Wilson make out for May sweeps, I'll re-evaluate my position on misappropriation.
Anyway, here are the videos.
Katy Perry kisses a girl.
Jill Sobule kisses a girl.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Please discuss!
2 Comments:
Hehe, Jill Sobule's version -is- much sweeter and more innocent than Katy Perry's. The thing is, I heard Katy's song before I saw it, and I immediately took a liking to it (the beat makes for good background noise while I study). So seeing the video didn't really add that much more for me in terms of me liking the song more. But then again, videos in general don't do very much for me in terms of how much I like a song.
Although I do have to admit, it's some rather nice eye candy. Call me shallow, but the girls in Katy's version are more enticing than the ones in Jill's version. I know, I know, it's a lot less taboo to be displaying skin today than 13 years ago, but what can I say. I swear, I'm not a lesbian. Maybe borderline bi, but hey, girls are nice for kissing ;)
Aren't they, though! I'm glad monogamy and... exploration aren't mutually exclusive. ;)
I'll admit that Katy Perry's song is really catchy and dance-able. But Jill Sobule's song really stuck with me when I heard it at the tender age of 14. Interestingly, it tells a totally different story than Katy Perry's -- an emotional connection ("We laughed at the world / they can have their diamonds and we'll have our pearls" ahhh I love that line!) vs. a one-night hookup ("I don't even know your name / it doesn't matter / you're my experimental game"). I'll take Jill Sobule's version!
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