Calamity Jane, You Let Me Down (Theme: Pride) by Julie Hager

Oh, Calamity Jane, with your Sarsaparilly,

You rode right onto my black and white telly.

In your buckskin breeches, you grabbed my attention

As you flipped the bird at gender convention.

I was only nine. I was starry-eyed.

Though I didn’t understand, I was mesmerised.

Here was a woman who dared to dare,

With pride in her stride and her chin to the air.

But, Calamity Jane, you let me down,

You should have stuck with Katie Brown.

Instead of which you donned a frock

And went and married Bill Hickok.

Oh, Calamity Jane, you sold me out,

And left me growing up in doubt.

There was not a single girl like me,

Not in real life nor on TV.

And now I wonder, had I seen

More like you upon my screen,

Would I have felt quite so defective,

Never a true girl from any perspective?

So, it took me a while to see the light –

I am this girl

And this girl’s

All right.

(P.S. I’ve found my own Katie Brown – and that’s all right too!)