Song of the Day 5/4: Jill Sobule, “America Back”

Singer-songwriter Jill Sobule died early Thursday in a house fire in Minnesota. Every obit identifies her by her 1995 single, “I Kissed a Girl,” a queer milestone as the first openly gay-themed song to chart (No. 20 Modern Rock, No. 67 Hot 100). It did catapult her to brief fame, but it was her political and social activism and her winsome personality that won her admiration from the gay community and fellow musicians.

Sobule’s critical acclaim didn’t translate into robust record sales; she crowdsourced the funding for her last several albums. Over the years she worked in film and TV and made lots of friends in Hollywood. Her most recent project was an autobiographical musical, “Fuck 7th Grade.” Her whimsical approach disguised a sharp satirical eye. For example, when Donald Trump visited Mexico during his 2016 campaign, Sobule responded with this musical question.

She didn’t release many singles, but an interesting exception was “Cinnamon Park,” a track from her 2004 LP “Underdog Victorious.” She based it on the piano riff from Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park,” a hit the summer Sobule was 13. I think the lyrics are a lot better than Robert Lamm’s original.

Sobule didn’t get serious all that often but when she did it could be devastating. I’d be a poor co-blogger if I didn’t use “Mexican Wrestler” as my evidence. It appeared on her 2000 album “Pink Pearl.”

I don’t think Sobule ever got a chance to record what might be her final composition, a topical ditty called “JD Vance Is a Cunt.”