Music Review: Cyndi Lauper "Hey Now (Girls Just Want To Have Fun)"

Hey Now (Girls Just Want To Have Fun)
Album: Twelve Deadly Sins…And Then Some
Year: 1995

There’s an old saying that goes ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In 1994, Cyndi Lauper released her first greatest hits album, “Twelve Deadly Sins..And Then Some.” She decided to “fix” ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ and ended up destroying it entirely.

Retitled “Hey Now,” it begins with a team of background singers singing “Hey now, hey now, girls just want to have fun now,” to a sample of ‘Come and Get Your Love.” The use of the sample is the first mistake. It can be a hindrance if not used properly. Here, it’s derivative. It’s carrying the entire song and not adding to it. It starts as an updated dance version of the original and then a reggae arrangement appears out of nowhere. Lauper may have been going for an improvisational style, but it turns out sounding haphazard and chaotic.

The worst problem, however, is Lauper’s voice. She mimics her vocals of the original to the very last note. However, it’s without any of the gusto or joy she displayed before. She’s flat in some parts (1:24 – 1:30) and shrill in others (2:13 – 2:31).

It’s an example of having a really good idea and then executing it poorly. If she had perhaps had done the remake as a ballad, it would’ve been entertaining. A once upbeat, girly tune about having fun now somber and worldly. It would’ve added emotions to the original that the sample and reggae arrangement couldn't. So much potential was wasted. No wonder Cyndi Lauper is irrelevant.

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