Cyndi... NOT Roy, NOT Celine, NOT Pinmonkey & certainly NOT Madonna

I never listened to Madonna, not in the beginning... boycotted her. I was a *LauperLover(C)*. There is no comparison, _*to this day*_, not for me. I think Madonna has improved immeasurably since her days of hanging out in Venice & lying down in the road, but there is only one *_Cyn_*. Singing about masterbation with "*She-Bop*":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzpxRd44PpE, I hadn't a clue 'til my later high school years, _just as she intended_, I thought the song was about dancing... I mean, we ALL bop ;)"*Time After Time*":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZYxsUDZQ4Q. I love this song, but I have to say it was made infinitely better when I first saw the video. She was just SOOOOOOO cool. Sure, I could never get away with that hairstyle, I may have had a _Manic Panic_ phase, going to *Zipperhead* on South Street for Flaming(TM) & Infra(TM)Red, but my cut was always far more tame. "*True Colors*":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THSL5wO7oAM. A song that has as many meanings as it does listeners. It comes down to acceptance & love of yourself. Timeless.As fabulous songs go, "*Girls Just Want to Have Fun*":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDt0xIemkS4 (newer version, best I could do kiddies) is as fun as it gets. I heard her talking about the making of that video, one that I can't help but see everytime I hear the song. She wanted her friends in it, her Mom, her lawyer & of course "Captain" Lou Albano. She wanted it to be *_REAL PEOPLE_* of all different colors & sizes.But *MY* song, another perfect song for me: *I DROVE ALL NIGHT.* This song cemented her in my list of favorite, fun, fantastic & ferocious female _focalists_ ;)It was originally written by Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly for "*Roy Orbison*":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbNWY7qr13o (check out the youthful Jason P. & Jennifer C.), but his earlier recorded version came out several years _after_ Cyn's did. Then "*Celine Dion*":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUt9vYQ7kF4 turned it into a clubby remix (sorry - but listen to it, compare it to the other versions out there & let me know if you think this isn't the least appealing). Pinmonkey also covers the song - would love to hear it, I checked out one or two of their songs & they're not half bad. But for me, again, really only one version. Cyndi's four octave range blows my mind, but when she sings in her lower register, as she does in this song, she brings me to my knees. She recorded this song because in her words, _she liked the idea "of a woman driving, of a woman in control."_ (WIKI to the rescue). And talk about a video that stays with you. The use of vibrant primary colors, the lights of Vegas as a backdrop with her barefoot on a highway singing her soul, the endless desert highway complete with antique cars & her 1940's dress. But it's the images of cars, highways & whitewalled tires flashing over her naked body, bathed in a royal blue light against black. It is striking. It is beautiful. It haunts me. It is a woman laying it all out there. I mean, haven't you ever wanted to drive all night to get to someone? Is it the romantic in me, or just that I am a car person? I watched it before writing this post, & got teary, so many memories flooding back, so much in the words of the song, the simplicity of it. So far ahead of her time, she almost seemed otherworldly to me as a kid. Now I _*know*_ she is. She's a maverick, she's another enigma & she's my beloved Cyn. You may feel that the _"Virginal"_ Madonna rocked it harder back in the day, & you are more than welcome to that opinion. But she never held a candle to Cyndi Lauper in my eyes - Cyn may have sung songs about masterbation, but she did it with class ;) It's when she sang about a nighttime drive though, that's it. In a nutshell. A poppy-punky princess with _Manic Panic_ & a penchant for tuille. Think one of these days I'm going on a road trip ;)