DESCRIPTION:
Men have been about the business of transforming women from people into objects for quite some time. And some women don't help matters much, in that regard.

Way back in 1983, a group called Daniel Amos was in the midst of a four-album story arc - The ¡ALARMA! Chronicles - which spoke the the hollowness of many aspects of Western culture, and how a relationship with Christ (though not necessarily "religion") could make a difference. In addition to scripture, they drew inspiration from such diverse wells as T. S. Eliot, Czeslaw Milosz, Annie Dillard, Ron Sider, Pinocchio, cheesy Sci-Fi films, and home hair-care products.

"Real Girls" is a song from their second album in the Chronicles arc,"Doppelgänger." It follows the song "Mall (All Over the World)", where commercialism has run amok, and mannequins take the stage left and right. It poses the question: "Who are the Real Girls?" It's a harder question than you might think!

The song is also a reflection of sorts on what liberation, for women, really means.

In an interview, song author Terry Taylor, reflected: "I think it's a Christian assessment of the whole idea of women's liberation; what really that liberation consists of, what true liberation is - a song that first scared me... Yes we agree that women have been hung in the meat market for a long time and displayed and put on television shows and been in many, many ways subverted by men, and now we are calling for that liberation, but we are calling for that Godliness, the woman of virtue, the woman who knows her position in Christ. And man's heart is being changed again also by God so that his view of what a woman is is changed as well".

Is this too nuanced a view for our current culture? Is there still room for virtue amidst the Scylla and Charybdis of exploitation and freedom?

This version of the song is a cover by Joy Gewalt (formerly of The Throes), from the Daniel Amos tribute album "When Worlds Collide". I find it even more powerful than the original. Partly because it's a bit less dated musically, but largely I think because having it interpreted through the heart and mind of a woman makes it more immediate and personal. And the "Real Grrrls Orchestra" is an electrifying addition.

Surprisingly, despite the relative obscurity, the tribute album that this comes from still seems to be available from DA's website, @ http://www.danielamos.com/store/ - and the song itself is available on amazon @ http://www.amazon.com/Real-Girls/dp/B004RR54OY

The images I incorporated in the video are just downloads from Google image searches to find stuff of relevance.

I claim no rights to any of this stuff, they belong to the original authors/artists/labels. If anyone owns the rights to something and would like it removed, just ask!

An RJFVideoUpload Production, November 25, 2012



LYRICS: Real Girls. from the album "Doppelgänger"
Words and Music by Terry Taylor and Jerry Chamberlain
©1983 Twitchen Vibes/ Paragon Music Corp. ASCAP

Girls with cars
Girls with cameras
Girls on game shows
Girls behind glass

Who are the real girls?
What's happened?
Who are the real girls?
Who are the real girls?...
What's happened to women?

Who's on the seat of election
This casting couch of moral rejection
Men, muscle-bound without affection
Those who exercise subtle seduction

Girls in ads
Girls with big wigs
Girls incognito
Girls on display

Who makes the sacrifice?
Who pays the price?
They live the cheap life
Low budget still life
What makes a real life?
Who are the real girls?
What's happened to virtue?
What's happening to people?

Some females, they don't see heaven
And he-men deflect their vision
Angels grieve their indecision
God escapes their imagination

Girls- what are the statistics?
Girls- one out of two?
Girls- one out of ten?
Girls- is she one in a million?

Who is the real girl?
Who are the real girls?
Who is the real girl?
Who are the real girls?
I want to know who are the real girls?