I received a video link that was not only the funniest parody I’d seen in months, but also answered a question I’ve had for years:

How do men get away with such sexist lyrics in rock?

The answer, I guess, is obvious. For there is no powerful creature on earth than a rock god, regardless of what women say about the sexiness of a man’s intelligence. Ever seen a throng of girls screeching and fainting when Albert Einstein arrived on the tarmac after a trip to Liverpool?

Still, as we’re on the cusp of electing our first female president, it seems odd that the fairer sex has not yet demanded fairer treatment, at least in music.

Consider the opening line to the song all rock fans consider an anthem to entanglement-free living, Free Bird:

If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGopskR5jSM

While attributed to band leader Ronnie Van Zant, he later admitted that the line came from a letter left to him by an ex-girlfriend. At least the line “And this bird, you cannot change” was uniquely his.

But popular music has much deeper roots in chauvinism. This little ditty came from The Temptations, a group renowned for swooning women dizzy:

Oh, as strange as it seems
You know you can’t treat a woman mean

Despite sounding like it came from the 50’s, that song was recorded in 1984. Was not abusing women  really a revelation then?

Even Tommy Tutone is a bit Tufaced. In his classic Jenny (867-5309), he croons:

I know you think I’m like the others before
Who saw your name and number on the wall

But then he follows unapologetically with this:

I got it, (I got it), I got it
I got your number on the wall
I got it, (I got it), I got it
For a good time, for a good time call…

But at least a quick-thinking YouTuber had some fun with KISS’ Beth. This director may have a job as director of communications in a Clinton administration.