Vitamin C: Girls Against Boys

This is one of my great favorite pieces of Theological Pop. Check my previous post on Sting's This War for more Theological Pop, which, by the way, is ordinary pop music that, whether it tries to or not, has a great theological message. I admit, the two songs I've reviewed here are more like Political Pop, but they still fit into my Theological Pop collection. And here is "Girls Against Boys" from Vitamin C's self-titled album:

Imagine a world where the girls, girls rule the earth.
Imagine a world where the boys, boys could give birth.
Would it be better that way?
Would it be more fun?
Would it be ecstasy? or a revolution?
Imagine a world where the girls, girls rule the earth.

Girls against boys, boys against the girls.
Girls against boys, who will rule the world?
Girls against boys, boys against the girls.
Girls against boys, who will rule the world?

Imagine a world where the girls, girls run the show.
Imagine a world where the boys, boys are told no.
Would there be peace on earth?, no more guns?
Would it be sexier? or mass confusion?
Imagine a world where the girls, girls rule the earth.

Girls against boys, boys against the girls.
Girls against boys, who will rule the world?
Girls against boys, boys against the girls.
Girls against boys, who will rule the world?

[Count Bass-D]
Well I cook for you, and I clean for you
Two kids for you, and your checkbook.
I'm on Slim Fast trying to get slimmer
But yet you wanna eat Big Macs for dinner.
My sneakers got soaked through walking through a puddle,
And when we get through, you don't even wanna cuddle.
You need to check in when you're hangin' wit'cha friends.
Trying to be like daddy is a means to an ends.
Being a man is hard like matzah.
I'ma take it to the 60's and burn my boxers
Yeah, and burn my boxers.
You know what I'm saying? Burn my boxers.

[Vitamin C]
Imagine a world where the girls, girls rule the earth.
Imagine a world where the boys, boys could give birth.
Would there be rocketships? way more fights?
Dress up everyday? more sattelites?
Would Xena be queen? Would there be more magazines?
Topless bars? super-fast cars? 90,000 trips to Mars?

Girls against boys, boys against the girls.
Girls against boys, who will rule the world?
Girls against boys, boys against the girls.
Girls against boys, who will rule the world?

Girls against boys, boys against the girls.
Girls against boys, who will rule the world?
Girls against boys, boys against the girls.
Girls against boys, who will rule the world?


I love this song. I think I was saying in a previous post how I think a huge part of USAmericans' problems are white men. Yes, I am one. Yes, I am part of the problem. Anyway, I don't think our country has any sort of chance until we white men stop trying to fix things and just ... get out of the way. I'm sure how else to say it than that. We've done enough. We're just getting in the way of progress. We need to take up some courage and step aside. So long as we think we have the answers to all of the worlds problems (including racism and sexism) we are missing the point. We're just propping up our own hypocritical platform.

Anyway, this song me keep myself in check and hopefully offers some really good wisdom about gender roles and perceptions. (Plus I really like the obscure reference to matzah in a techno song. That's awesome.) So white guys, hopefully this will help you notice your maleness. If you need help with recognizing your whiteness, try reading James Cone's Black Theology and Black Power. Don't read it if you're feeling suicidal.

PS There are a bunch of foreign language phrases mixed into the above song that I'm not showing in the lyrics. Spanish, French, and Japanese are definately there. The Spanish is "Contra ninos" -- against boys. I think the French is pretty similar, and I imagine the other languages are saying about the same thing. So when you listen to this song (and you should), let me know if you can translate any of the other language quotes.