High School Music…

You must be my Lucky Star

‘Cause you shine on me wherever you are

I just think of you and I start to glow

And I need your light

And baby you know…

I was a high school Madonna.  Not the Madonna with baby, Madonna.  I’m talking about the 1980’s Madonna.  I badly wanted to be a mini-version of THE Madonna in high school.

Lucky Star was released in September of 1983, the beginning of my junior year in high school.  This song, well really the video, reinforced my desire to be a dancer…and to wear footless leggings under skirts!  I knew all her songs, watched her videos as often as I could find them on tv (the internet did not exist in 1983—at least it wasn’t accessible to normal people).  With the release of each video, my future became even clearer to me; Lucky Star-dancer, Borderline-art-defacing model, Burning Up-a girl with an unhealthy fixation on choke collars.  I loved it all.  Fingerless lace gloves, jean jackets with the sleeves cut off, multiple bracelets, ratted-shoulder length hair, all of it.  Madonna was a style, an icon, and I wanted to look like her, dance like her, and sing like her.  I even wanted a boyfriend named Jelly Bean.

Then she released Like a Virgin.  Yep, that’s where my dad drew the line.  He wasn’t going for the bustier and all that virgin talk.  He began to question my taste in music (videos).  He began to watch them with me.  Then she released Papa Don’t Preach.  And he quickly informed me her “trouble” was teenaged pregnancy.   And how did she get pregnant?  SEX!

I cooly explained to my father, “No, she’s not talking about pre-marital sex.  She just wants to keep her boyfriend that she calls Baby!”  He looked at me like I was stupid.  He pointed out what the lyrics to her others songs meant.  What the heck?  I did not want to hear what “Burning Up” was really about from my FATHER!

I had no choice, I abandoned MV3, Richard Blade and the ONE television in our house and went back to listening to Madonna on my headphones.   There was no way I would agree with my dad.  Madonna was just misunderstood.  Oh, and if you never saw MV3, Google it.

Years later, way after my obsession with Madonna wore off, my dad joked that he had gone to the bookstore to buy me Madonna’s new book.  I almost choked.  Her new artsy book was making headlines for the many pornographic photos it contained.   My “stop it daddy” was quickly met with, “I told you so!”

Just for the record, no, I didn’t really listen to the words of songs when I was a teenager.  What teenager does?  I knew the words, I sang the words, I just never thought about what they meant!  And no, I never reached any of my Madonna related goals…I have no rhythm and am not really photogenic.  I definitely do NOT sing.    And no, I’m not a Madonna fan anymore.  But I’ll admit that I do dance around like a fool when some throwback radio station plays Lucky Star!

Inspired by the writing prompts at http://www.mamakatslosinit.com.