Teen pop sensation Lesley Gore wasn’t recognized for making statements in her songs earlier than she launched “You Don’t Own Me.” At 16, she was found by Quincy Jones and signed to Mercury. The New York singer broke into the charts with songs like “It’s My Party” and “Judy’s Turn To Cry,” which captured the melodrama of sweet sixteen romance and landed her a No.1 and High 5 end on the Billboard Sizzling 100, respectively.
When she returned together with her third single, although, issues modified. “You Don’t Own Me” introduced a really totally different perspective – one through which she informed a lover they couldn’t inform her what to do or what to say. “Our original intent was to write a song with a woman telling a man off,” John Madara, who co-wrote the observe with David White, informed Forgotten Hits. “Though we didn’t realize at the time that it would become a woman’s anthem, it definitely was our intention to have a woman make a statement.”
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The message of “You Don’t Own Me” made an influence on Gore’s viewers and earned her one other hit on the Sizzling 100. It peaked at No.2, solely held off from the highest spot by The Beatles. The track’s legacy, in fact, has centered round its robust, empowering perspective. Over time, it has been lined by feminine artists like Dusty Springfield, Joan Jett, and Christina Aguilera, whereas its inclusion within the 1996 film The First Wives Membership – the place it was sung by Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, and Goldie Hawn – launched it to an entire new technology of followers. A 2015 model by Australian singer-songwriter Grace, that includes G-Eazy, gave the track one other resurgence, increasing its affect into the twenty first century.
Gore re-recorded the track in 2005 for her album Ever Since and repurposed it through the 2012 presidential marketing campaign as a part of a reproductive rights PSA with Women creator Lena Dunham and Rookie’s Tavi Gevinson. Others have additionally used it to spotlight points referring to feminism – on the evening of the 2018 Girls’s March, feminine solid members of Saturday Night time Stay and Jessica Chastain sang the track collectively.
“After some 40 years, I still close my show with that song because I can’t find anything stronger, to be honest with you,” Gore as soon as informed Digital Interviews. “You Don’t Own Me”’s persevering with influence displays its still-relevant message for the world.
Subscribe to Lesley Gore’s official artist channel on YouTube.
