More Freedom for the Material Girl

It’s become more and more apparent to me lately that I’m a child of the 80's. I may have been born in the late 60's but my high school and college years spanned the full spectrum, 1981-1989. Not only do I remember the Reagan years as the “all about me” years but I can hear just about any 80's tune and know precisely where I was and who I was hanging out with at the time of it’s release.

Now, I don’t think this makes me a pop junkie necessarily but it does tell me about who I was then and who I am becoming now. So much of the 80's was about image and I mean big time! We had big hair, big boots, big earrings and big wallets full of money. Not only did we spend a whole lot of time at the Mall, we worked there too!

It really was “all about us” but then again, who were we really? My favorite song of all times and one that puts the 80's into perspective for me is the single “Freedom ‘90" by George Michael. Getting his star status in the band “Wham ”, he seems to magnify all that was good and not so good about the 80's. He, along with the rest of us, were big and loud and lots of fun! We had to be, it was the 80's for God’s sake!

What this song did for me and perhaps for him as well was help me come down a notch. Dressing me down from the larger than life appeal of the 80's to a much more real and vulnerable me of the 90's and beyond. We, and by that I mea
Michael and I, seemed to be transitioning at the same time and like many songs in my life “Freedom ‘90" became more of a symbol rather than just another song.
"Heaven knows I was just a young boy, didn’t know what I wanted to ber
I was every little hungry schoolgirl’s pride and joy and I guess it was enough for mer
To win the race? A prettier face Brand new clothes and a big fat place
on your rock and roll TV. But today the way I play the game is not the same no wayr
Think I’m gonna get myself happy"

And so it goes, a swan song for Michael in many ways (he never released another hit single after that song) and for me, the beginning of a long journey to finding me.

"I think there’s something you should know, I think it’s time I stopped the showr
There’s something deep inside of me, there’s someone I forgot to ber
Take back your picture in a frame, don’t think that I’ll be back againr
I just hope you understand, sometimes the clothes do not make the man"

Yes, the 80's exemplified all the facades that one creates in order to fit in and cope with all the demands of growing up and boy did the 80's demand the biggest of egos! It was all about success and the bigger the better, as I remember. What happened after that, I don’t really remember. All I know is that the bigness of things began to shrink and the normalcy of life began to change and I found myself finding more and more freedom along the way.

Losing the bling has been life-giving and not so easy when you’re a material girl from the 80's! Why some choose to do it and others don’t is a mystery in itself. I guess, it’s not as easy as it sounds and what I’ve read about Michael’s life lately, it isn’t something to take lightly. Even so, Michael seemed to have the best intentions at the time: “All we have to do now, is take these lies and make them true somehow.”
How about you? What kind of bling do you still carry around? What untruths might you still be holding dear? Do your clothes still make you who you really are or is it time to get yourself happy?