It’s just a song …

[meegbear]

… But it’s a song about one girl enjoying a kiss with another, and it was apparently too much for the folks at Van High School.

Three twirlers at the school have been suspended from performing at one pep rally and two games after they performed a twirling routine to Katy Perry’s song “I Kissed a Girl (And I Liked It)” during a pep rally before a football game. They had been told not to use the song, but as senior Jordan Downey said, it was just a song, and they liked it.

But school administrators didn’t like it. So they girls were suspended. And now, according to NBC5i.com, the Web site for DFW’s Channel 5 news station, now other Van High School Band members have decided to wear buttons declaring “No Twirlers, No Band,” and members of the band’s drum line have said that they will not march as long as the twirlers are suspended.

Van, for those of you who don’t know, is in Van Zandt County (Texas), just east of Canton, about 15 miles or so, on Interstate 20. It is a tiny little town, barely a wide spot in the road, but picturesque and, in my experience, friendly. I worked there for about a year and a half in the mid 80s, as editor of the town’s newspaper, the Van Progress.

I was also in the band when I was in high school (not Van High School, though). I played the trumpet, and later, the tuba. I was never a twirler, but there were a few I would have gladly kissed back then. And I would probably have liked it.

http://www.dallasvoice.com/instant-tea/2008/10/01/its-just-a-song/

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Why does this sound so familiar?

From 'the more things change... the more they don't' department: Janis Ian

From wiki:

>>>>>> Music career
At the age of fifteen, Ian wrote and sang her first hit single, "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)," about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl's mother and frowned upon by her peers and teachers; the girl ultimately decides to end the relationship, claiming the societal norms of the day have left her no other choice. Produced by melodrama specialist George "Shadow" Morton and released three times between 1965 and 1967, "Society's Child" finally became a national hit the third time it was released, after Leonard Bernstein featured it in a TV special titled Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution.<2> The song's lyrical content was too taboo for some radio stations, and they withdrew or banned it from their playlists accordingly; in her 2008 autobiography Society's Child, Ian recalls receiving hate mail and death threats as a response to the song, and mentions that a radio station in Atlanta that played it was burned down. In the summer of 1967, "Society's Child" reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Apparently "Society's Child" was too hot for Atlantic Records as well at the time. Ian relates on her website that although the song was originally intended for Atlantic and the label paid for her recording session, the label subsequently returned the master to her and quietly refused to release it. Years later, Ian says, Atlantic's president at the time, Jerry Wexler, publicly apologized to her for this. The single and Ian's 1967 eponymous debut album were finally released on Verve Forecast; her album was also a hit, reaching #12. In 2001, "Society's Child" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings considered timeless and important to music history.
>>>>>

[Ian David]

3. Society's Child

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x204660

[WCGreen]

2. Them goll darn yankees are bringin' all them liebrul lesbeans values into

god country...

[Chovexani]

4. I hate that fucking song.

It induces murderous rage in me when I hear it.

It's like Girls Gone Wild in audio form. :puke:

[SacredCow]

5. I'm kind of with you on that one....

I remember a 90's song by Jill Sobule called "I Kissed a Girl," which I liked, though.

[davidinalameda]

6. I loved that song!

Fabio was in the video!

:rofl:

[racaulk]

7. That was a great song with a terrific video!

It also was released around the same time that I was first coming out, so it seemed very timely to me. :)

[SacredCow]

10. I still had a long way to go....

But I was never a "I'm in denial homophobe" type of person, either. My favorite bar was a gay bar, and I had a lot of gay friends, etc... Some of which, when I came out later in life predictably were of the "I KNEW IT!!!!" stance! :rofl:

So anyway- when Sobule's song came out, I just thought it was hysterical and cool.

[racaulk]

8. "Girls Gone Wild" in audio form.

You know, that's the perfect way to describe it. I hate that fucking song. x(

[dickthegrouch]

9. Great news about the band's support though

I've learned today that support isn't always as forthcoming as might have been expected. Although the GLBT members who took over the discussion I started after the debate were wonderfully supportive when I just froze.

I salute the other Band members for their position of "No Twirlers, No Band".
These are people who will vote against mean-spirited constitutional amendments.

Thanks for the good news.