Just this morning I kissed a girl. OK, it was a woman and she was my wife. I also kissed another girl, but she's a standard poodle. Still, you don't see me writing a song about it.
Of course, it's no surprise that everywhere I turn, I hear about Katy Perry's song "I Kissed A Girl." After all, it is the No. 1 record in America at the moment. Over a stiff dance beat, the young Perry sings:
I kissed a girl and I liked it,
the taste of her cherry chap stick.
I kissed a girl just to try it,
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it.
It felt so wrong,
it felt so right.
Don't mean I'm in love tonight.
I kissed a girl and I liked it.
Did you know the song is the 1,000th No. 1 Billboard hit of the "rock era"? Right, I yawned too when I read that. What seems more interesting is that in 2008 this kind of thing can cause controversy. Is it really that gasp-worthy that a woman admits to kissing another woman and liking it? And in a pop song, which is hardly the kind of testimony that would stand up in a court of law.
Moreover, Jill Sobule recorded a far superior song on the same subject and with the same name 13 years ago.
Sure, Perry's is a little more risque in that she appears to have met her anonymous kissable girl and gone out of her mind, unable to prevent her lips from writing that legendary check that her heart couldn't cash.
Sobule's kiss was more gradual, more between friends, more an extension of "fraternal" love than booze-fueled lust.
Genny came over and told me 'bout Fred
" He's such a hairy behemoth, " she said
" Dumb as a box of hammers
But he's such a handsome guy. "
And I opened up and told her 'bout Larry
And yesterday how he asked me to marry
I'm not giving him an answer yet
I think I can do better
So we laughed
Compared notes
We had a drink, we had a smoke
She took off her over coat
I kissed a girl
Maybe that's why it seems nobody batted an eyelid when that was a minor hit. Maybe it's because no one was really listening all that hard (sorry Jill, I just mean in comparison. I was listening, if that matters).
Anyway, I will continue -- I hope -- to kiss my girl and I may ponder writing a song about it. But, even if I do, I will expect neither controversy nor a Billboard hit. In the meantime, maybe you can tell me why anyone would be upset about an innocuous little ditty like Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl."
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
