Teena Marie‘s biggest hit single, Lovergirl, is a vibrant and infections anthem about confidence, passion, and the desire to capture someone’s heart. Released in 1984, it reached #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and she received a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
I’m absolutely certain that the 1984 interpretation of the lyrics was that of a heterosexual woman desiring a heterosexual man, as the LGBTQ movement was in its infancy and still somewhat in the shadows.
[Of course, the view of a socially-clueless university freshman should not be unconditionally accepted. I knew of but didn’t know anyone non-hetero until a older high school classmate came out at the same university: he ran safe-sex workshops when HIV/AIDS was just becoming an issue.]
While driving home yesterday, Lovergirl came on Sirius/XM‘s Studio 54 channel. Immediately, I cranked the volume and (poorly) sang along. Then I noticed her phrasing of the word Lovergirl. The official lyrics are I just want to be your lovergirl but it’s sung as I just want to be your lover girl. How about a little punctuation? I just want to be your lover, girl.
Inserting a single comma creates a lesbian anthem, entirely appropriate and acceptable in 2025. Truthfully, I doubt I am the first one to make this realization, just took me a bit longer.
