Musician Frally’s haunting “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” cover featured in Paris Hilton doc, This Is Paris
Artist’s Statement: When I recorded this song, which was done specifically for This Is Paris, I had seen some rough cuts. What really stuck with me was the way in which women often have to “dumb it down” or “change their voice” in order to survive or thrive.
Here you have Paris Hilton who is actually a highly intelligent, incredibly hard working person who had to fabricate a voice or persona because she was “too wild” for the world or at least too wild for her parent’s world… and they sent her away to a pretty dark, abusive place to teach her how to behave. I think that’s tragic. Little did they know, they were throwing oil on the fire because Paris refused to stay quiet. She came back louder but through a very wounded filter. I wonder what might have happened had they just let her be herself?
In the original Cyndi Lauper version, the character is essentially dealing with the same dynamic with her parents: “When you gonna live your life right? What you gonna do with your life?” The upbeat tempo gives it a much happier vibe but it’s still a rebellion which is why I immediately thought of Paris. —Frally
About Frally: Channeling the quiet of the Australian countryside, the dynamic licks of Nashville, the weary forthright grit of Brooklyn and the searing sunshine of Los Angeles, musician Frally Hynes has created her own sound that has been described as haunting, subtle, stirring, strange, meditative, provocative and original. She has toured internationally with Cat Power and Rufus Wainwright and also performs with Rain Phoenix in Venus and the Moon. She also works as a composer and music supervisor with a focus on documentary films including The Case Against Adnan Syed HBO, the Netflix series Dogs, and This is Personal, a doc about the women’s movement. This is Personal premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2019 where Frally also performed alongside Feist and Patty Griffin at the Celebration of Music in Film concert.
This Is Paris is now available on YouTube