I Enjoy Being a Girl

"I Enjoy Being a Girl"
Song from Flower Drum Song
Published	1958
Songwriter(s)	Oscar Hammerstein II
Composer(s)	Richard Rodgers

"I Enjoy Being a Girl" is a show tune from the 1958 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song. It is the showpiece for the Linda Low showgirl character. The musical is a comedic love story about growing up Chinese in America, the clash between the traditional values of the old country and the modern ways of America.

Though Flower Drum Song was not as successful as other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, the song, "I Enjoy Being a Girl," has remained a popular choice for recording vocalists, including Doris Day, Peggy Lee, Pat Suzuki, and Phranc. The song has been parodied by Sarah Jessica Parker in a Gap commercial and went viral as "I Enjoy Being Al Gore". It has also turned up in works inspired by Harry Potter, Xena, and Battlestar Galactica. Comedian Rosanne Barr parodied the song in 1990. Alvin and the Chipmunks performed the song in the 1983 Alvin and the Chipmunks episode "A Dog's Best Friend Is His Chipmunk" (with new lyrics specifically for the episode). It was parodied in Episode 24 of season 3 of "The Muppet Show", when Cheryl Ladd and Miss Piggy bash a dummy and Kermit is set loose in Ladd's dressing room.

The lyrics praise the traditional values of being a woman that longs to be the object of a man's affection. It is often considered to be "camp" or "kitsch" and has frequently been performed by drag queens.

The original Broadway cast includes the version by Pat Suzuki on LP and CD. There is also a new David Henry Hwang version on CD. The movie version is sung by B. J. Baker (not of Asian descent).

External links

List of recordings at Allmusic (accessed 6 July 2011).

Rodgers and Hammerstein
Stage musicals	Oklahoma! Carousel Allegro South Pacific The King and I Me and Juliet Pipe Dream Flower Drum Song The Sound of Music A Grand Night for Singing State Fair Cinderella
Productions	I Remember Mama Annie Get Your Gun Happy Birthday John Loves Mary Show Boat The Happy Time Burning Bright
Films	State Fair Oklahoma! Carousel The King and I South Pacific Flower Drum Song State Fair The Sound of Music Cinderella
Television	Cinderella The Sound of Music Live!
Songs	"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" "Kansas City" "I Cain't Say No" "Many a New Day" "It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage!" "People Will Say We're in Love" "Lonely Room" "The Farmer and the Cowman" "All Er Nuthin'" "Oklahoma" "If I Loved You" "Soliloquy" "You'll Never Walk Alone" "It Might as Well Be Spring" "That's for Me" "A Fellow Needs a Girl" "So Far" "Some Enchanted Evening" "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" "Bali Ha'i" "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy" "Younger Than Springtime" "Happy Talk" "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" "I Whistle a Happy Tune" "Hello, Young Lovers" "Getting to Know You" "We Kiss in a Shadow" "Something Wonderful" "I Have Dreamed" "Shall We Dance?" "No Other Love" "I Enjoy Being a Girl" "The Sound of Music" "Maria" "My Favorite Things" "Do-Re-Mi" "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" "The Lonely Goatherd" "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" "So Long, Farewell" "No Way to Stop It" "Edelweiss"
Related articles	"Something Good" The Sound of Music The Sound of Music: Music from the NBC Television Event

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