“When I Grow Up” (The Pussycat Dolls cover) by Mayday Parade, Friday, May 13, 2022

Fun, pretentious, novelty, inauthentic. Call it what you want, but Fearless Records' Punk Goes... series has been around for a while. Punk purists will point out that the compilations are made up of mid-tier Emo, Pop-Punk, and Post-Hardcore bands, rather than real punk bands. While music people may debate what is really punk, Fearless Records helped to solidify a punk-rock-inspired scene starting with their first release Punk Goes Metal in 2000. Punk Goes Pop followed in 2002. After releasing several other compilations, Punk Goes Pop 2 was released in 2009. 

BOYS CALL YOU SEXY. Today's song comes from the Los Angeles burlesque-turned-mainstream pop act  The Pussycat Dolls. Founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995, and performing at The Viper Room on Thursday nights in the '90s, the group's lineup fluctuated before Antin decided to take her group to the radio. Former Dolls included Christina Applegate, Christina Aguilera, and Carmen Electra. The original concept was simple: beautiful women singing standards from the '50s and '60s in lingerie. Playboy reported on the burlesque act in 1999 and several of the dancers posed semi-nude for that feature. But as a pop group, choreographer and manager Antin settled on a six-girl lineup and released their first single, "Sway," for the 2005 film Shall We Dance?  The group released their full-length debut PCD the following year, which featured hits like "Don't Cha" and "Stickwitu." In 2008, The Dolls released their second album, Doll Domination,  which features today's song "When I Grow Up," a song about being young and craving fame. 

WE ALL WANNA BE FAMOUS. Mayday Parade is a band from Tallahassee, Florida, founded in 2005. Today they are a staple in the Pop-Punk/Emo scene, cutting their teeth on Warped Tour and touring with the who's who of that scene. With their mellower, at times piano-driven pop punk, the band is a frequent contributor to the Punk Goes... series. And while music critics pan the Punk Goes... series it's certainly fun hipster music. It's fun to hear how Alternative rockers interpret good and not-s0- good source material. Is there screaming on a Britney Spears song? Is there a gender-bender? Is there an interesting guitar or instrument? Or is it just a whacky way to interpret a pop song? I have to say that The Pussycat Dolls were totally off of my radar, and I didn't even know the original version of this song until I heard Mayday Parade's cover. Along with Weird Al's inclusion of "Don't Cha" in his 2006 "Polkarama!" medley, Mayday Parade's version of "When I Grow Up" gets stuck in my head from time to time. But unlike Weird Al's bizarre take on "Don't Cha," Mayday Parade's song can make sense--Motley Crüe level of rockstar decadence. Of course, Mayday Parade with its 2 million monthly listeners is far from being household names. Maybe the age of rock star rock stars is over, but this song is a fun reminder that if we wish it, it could come true. So be careful.


Read the lyrics on Genius.


Original version:


Cover: 


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