Editing Girls Just Want to Have Fun (section)

== Background ==

The song was written in 1979 by [[Rock music|rock]] musician [[Robert Hazard]], who performed it with various bands in the Philadelphia area, and enjoyed some local [[college radio]] airplay with a demo recording he made. Hazard wrote it as a rock song coming from the male perspective. Hazard's friend, producer [[Rick Chertoff]], brought it to [[Cyndi Lauper]] to record as a pop-electronic song.<ref name=Hazard>{{cite news |url=https://www.mcall.com/1986/11/22/robert-hazard-sets-the-record-straight/ |author=Staff |title=Robert Hazard Sets the Record Straight |date=November 22, 1986 |newspaper=[[The Morning Call]] |access-date=January 15, 2025}}</ref> Lauper "flipped the script" and made it carry a feminist attitude by subtly changing some of the lyrics at the suggestion of Chertoff, and she had her own suggestions about how her version should sound.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cyndi Lauper initially didn't think "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was very fun – Music News – ABC News Radio |url=http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music-news/2019/4/30/cyndi-lauper-initially-didnt-think-girls-just-want-to-have-f.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031211102/http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music-news/2019/4/30/cyndi-lauper-initially-didnt-think-girls-just-want-to-have-f.html |archive-date=October 31, 2022 |access-date=February 14, 2022}}</ref> For the recording sessions, Chertoff brought in two longtime musician friends from [[the Hooters]]: keyboardist [[Rob Hyman]] and guitarist [[Eric Bazilian]]. Lauper later said that the Hooters were "my band before I had a band."<ref name=Hazard/> The song appeared on Lauper's 1983 debut record ''[[She's So Unusual]]''.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

The track is a synthesizer-backed anthem, from a feminist perspective, conveying the point that all women really want is to have the same experiences that men can have.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Moyer |first1=Justin Wm |last2=Kaplan |first2=Sarah |date=April 30, 2015 |title=Cyndi Lauper and the secret feminist history of 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/30/cyndi-lauper-on-capitol-hill-and-the-secret-feminist-history-of-girls-just-wanna-have-fun/ |access-date=December 14, 2017 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Gillian G. Gaar, author of ''She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll'' (2002), described the single and corresponding video as a "strong feminist statement", an "anthem of female solidarity" and a "playful romp celebrating female camaraderie." The song is in the key of [[F-sharp major|F# major]].<ref name="She's a rebel">{{Cite book |last=Gaar |first=Gillian G. |title=She's a rebel: the history of women in rock & roll |publisher=Seal Press |year=2002 |isbn=1-58005-078-6 |pages=264–265}}</ref>

The song's success overshadowed Hazard's own music career. His 1984 album ''[[Wing of Fire]]'' was a sales disappointment at the same time that Lauper's version of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was going Gold, making him a millionaire. After Lauper claimed in interviews to have co-written the song, Hazard served her with a [[cease and desist]] letter. He was able to buy a New Jersey lake house and a horse farm from the song's royalties, although he said that federal taxes took most of the money.<ref name=Hazard/>