When the World Met the ‘Unusual’ and Wonderful Cyndi Lauper
A song-by-song look at ‘She’s So Unusual,’ the singer’s classic debut album from 1983
Cyndi Lauper’s first album, She’s So Unusual, was released on October 14, 1983. It contained several songs that were released as singles and became huge hits for Cyndi. The album itself became one of the best-selling albums of the 1980s. Over the years, it has sold over 6 million copies in the United States and 25 million copies worldwide.
In addition to She’s So Unusual being a financial success, it also became a critically acclaimed album that many people, including me, think is one of the best debut albums by anyone. Personally, I still listen to it on a very regular basis. It’s one of my favorite albums ever.
Rather than give a detailed look at the making of the album itself, I’ve decided to take short looks at each of the 10 songs from it. Included below are the official music videos and audio-only videos of the songs, all from Cyndi Lauper’s official YouTube channel.
Since several of the songs from She’s So Unusual were remakes, I thought it would be fun to also include the original versions of those songs. One of them is very well known, but I would guess that most people are probably unfamiliar with the others.
I’ve also included fun ‘alternative’ versions of a couple of the songs.
So, let’s get to them!
1. Money Changes Everything
“Money Changes Everything” was the fifth single released from the album. This great energetic song was a perfect choice to start the album with. It’s a lot of fun!
And speaking of fun…below is the official live music video for the song. Her energy level in this concert appearance is AMAZING. She’s really, really into it! I especially love the part where she gets into a garbage can and then flies over the audience.
It’s all a little wild — and I mean that in the best possible of ways. I was (and still am) totally there for it!
I only recently learned that “Money Changes Everything” was a remake of a song by The Brains that was originally released in 1980. It’s pretty good! Check it out:
2. Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Although she’s had many hit singles over the years, this was her very first one. When the above music video started getting played on MTV, people seemed to instantly fall in love with it — and with Cyndi herself.
In addition to showing the world what a great singer she is, the music video also showed us all Cyndi’s very fun personality. In just a very short time, Cyndi Lauper became a superstar.
Interestingly, the song was originally written and recorded by a very talented musician and songwriter named Robert Hazard. His version, though, was from a male perspective and the song’s original meaning was slightly different than the latter popular version.
Hazard’s version was his light-hearted reply to his family members and others who told him that he should get married and ‘settle down.’ He implied that he wanted to, but he wasn’t having any luck finding girls who felt the same way. The ones he was interested in were not themselves interested in settling down. Instead, they just wanted to have fun.
And here’s a fun live version of the song by The Killers.
3. When You Were Mine
I mentioned above that one of the remakes on the album was of a song that was already well-known. This is it.
“When You Were Mine” was written by Prince and his original version of the song appeared on his album Dirty Mind in 1980. I’ve never been able to decide if I prefer his original or Cyndi’s remake. They’re pretty even to me. I like both of them a lot!
4. Time After Time
“Time After Time” was the second single released from the album. Like its predecessor, it became an incredibly huge hit. To this day, it can be heard very regularly on radio and streaming services.
Cyndi co-wrote the song with Rob Hyman, who was (and still is) a member of The Hooters. Not long after “Time After Time” became a hit, The Hooters became internationally popular with their debut album, Nervous Night, which contained hits like “And We Danced,” “Day By Day,” and “All You Zombies.”
To this day, The Hooters regularly perform “Time After Time” during their concerts, with co-songwriter Rob Hyman singing lead.
The below video of them doing it is from a concert The Hooters performed at The Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania in 1985. I was at this show and it was fantastic!
5. She Bop
“She Bop” was the third single released from She’s So Unusual. As incredibly fun as a lot of her other music videos are, the above video for “She Bop” is my all-time favorite video by her. It’s nothing but fun from the very beginning to the very end.
As I’m sure a lot of you already know, “She Bop” was very controversial at the time it was released, since the ‘bopping’ in the song was a reference to masturbation.
The song was placed on a list of ‘filthy’ songs by the Parents Music Resource Center, which led to the ‘Parental Advisory — Explicit Warning’ stickers/labels that were later put on albums, singles, etc. that contained ‘questionable’ lyrics.
The extended remix below of “She Bop” is probably my favorite version of the song. If you’re the type of person who enjoys listening to music while you exercise, I highly recommend you add this to one of your exercising playlists.
6. All Through The Night
“All Through The Night” was the fourth single and fourth hit from the album. It was a remake of a song written by Jules Shear, which he recorded for his 1983 album Watch Dog.
Although I prefer Cyndi’s version, I like the original a lot too.
7. Witness
I’ve always liked this non-hit a lot. The music in it is fun and the chorus and other lyrics are incredibly catchy. Whenever I play this song, it gets stuck in my head for hours afterward — and I’m totally cool with that.
8. I’ll Kiss You
Although this is my least favorite song on the album, I don’t at all think it’s a bad song. It’s actually pretty good! I especially like the parts when Cyndi sings “twiddly-dee and twiddly-dum.”
9. He’s So Unusual
This song is only 45 seconds long. The music and vocals have sort of a muffled sound, similar to how old records from the 1920s sometimes sounded when listened to several decades later.
I’m sure this was intentional because the song was a shortened remake of a song from 1929 by Helen Kane, who was the inspiration for the popular animated character Betty Boop.
NOTE: The first few seconds of Cyndi’s version can be heard during the beginning of the music video for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
10. Yeah Yeah
Cyndi’s version of “He’s So Unusual” goes directly into “Yeah, Yeah.” The song is filled with fun music and fun lyrics. In addition to the verses and chorus, there are also several other lines said and sung in the background by Cyndi, including an entertaining part about how much she loves sushi.
Up until about an hour ago, I always thought that “Yeah Yeah” was a brand new song when it appeared on the She’s So Unusual album. However, it was actually first recorded in 1981 by Mikael Rickfors, who was one of the co-writers of it.
And that’s it! Here’s the complete album on Spotify:
Are you a fan of Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual album? If so, what are your favorite songs from it? Let me know!
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