I’m sad to report that singer, songwriter and activist Jill Sobule has passed away in a house fire on Friday.
She is credited with performing the first openly gay-themed song that cracked the Billboard Top 20.
Jill Sobule, the groundbreaking singer-songwriter and activist whose 1995 song “I Kissed a Girl” is widely considered the first openly gay-themed song to crack the Billboard Top 20, died in a Minneapolis house fire early Thursday morning, her rep confirmed. She was 66.
Sobule’s unusually diverse three-decade/12-album career included that song as well as “Supermodel” from the film “Clueless” and, more recently, the Drama Desk-nominated autobiographical musical “Fuck 7th Grade,” which enjoyed four theatrical runs in three years. The original cast recording of the show is set to be released on June 6, alongside a special 30th anniversary reissue of her self-titled album, which features “I Kissed a Girl” and “Supermodel.”
Sobule was a progressive to the core and sang at the closing of Netroots Nation in 2011.
Our former managing editor David Neiwert wrote this about her.
Last night at the closing keynote session for Netroots Nation, we were entertained by the fabulous singer-songwriter Jill Sobule (her official site is here), who wrote this song especially for the convention.
It’s not safe for work. But it may well become a progressive anthem for the 2012 election cycle.
I met Jill briefly, and she said she’s a big C&L fan. Well, here’s back atcha, Jill.
Here’s the lyric:
They say we want our America backOur America backOur America backWhen they say we want our America backWhat the f–k do they mean?
Remember the Garden of EdenBefore Eve hung out with that snake?You could walk down the streetAnd not worry about thievesAll the kids could go trick or treating
Then those foreigners started comin’ inLike those Germans in 1790Then the Irish arrived, the potato blightThe neighborhood started changing
Life was betterWe lived rightLife had a paler shade of whiteWhen they say we want our America backWe want our America back
Before there was Ellis IslandAnd that statue we got from the FrenchAnd that’s whore’s still alertingThe strangers she’s flirtingInviting them into our beds
The Guineas, the coolies, the wetbacks, the JewsThe gays and the terroristsAnd who let in that woman looks after my kidsAnd the one who is cleaning my nest
Life was righteousLife was cleanSend them back including meWhen they say they want our America backOur America back, our America backWhen they say they want our America backWhat the f–k does it mean?
Before the gays had the agendaBefore the slaves were freeBefore that man from KenyaTook the presidency
We want our America backOur America backOur America backWhen they say they want our America backWhat the f–k do they mean?
Her words resonate as much today as they did 14 years ago.
UPDATE: And Jill Sobule a few weeks ago, making her feelings about JD Vance known.
Open thread below…