Everybody's free to wear sunscreen, Baz Luhrmann's
song advises. The brand and SPF is up to you.

‘Sunscreen’

...an anthem for the Class of '99

Clip out lyrics to the song

By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin

BAZ Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) Mix" -- also known as "The Speech Song" -- has quite a story behind it.

First of all, it's not Luhrmann advising the Class of '99 to wear sunscreen. He didn't write the speech or create the music that percolates through it. On top of that, the recording -- new to most of the nation -- is 2 years old.

In a sentence: Who cares?! The fictional graduation address on Luhrmann's unusual album, "Something for Everybody," is one of the biggest "sleeper" hits of the last few years. It is one of these rare pop recordings that reaches people of all ages, and radio stations across the nation have reported it as their most requested song.

"It takes me back to my graduating year. It makes you think and brings you into yourself. 'Everyday do something that scares you.' I do that because of the song," says Angie Baraquio, a University of Hawaii student.

Laurence Paxton, a UH and Po'okela Award-winning actor, finds the song a refreshing alternative to formula pop music. "It's so quirky and off-beat that you can't believe it's actually there. When everything is just so cookie-cutter it's great to see something original."

Luhrmann, an Australian with impressive credits in theater, opera and film, is best known as the director of films such as "Strictly Ballroom" and "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet."

Luhrmann discovered the speech via an e-mail that erroneously identified it as a speech written by Kurt Vonnegut for an address at MIT. It was actually written by Mary Schmich for the Chicago Tribune and used with permission. Actor/announcer Lee Perry is the speaker. Quindon Tarver and writers Tim Cox and Nigel Swanstom share credit for other components of the recording on Luhrmann's album.

"We got calls and calls and calls from the first time we played it from people who said they could relate to it," says KQMQ music director Justin Cruz. KQMQ began playing the song well over a month ago and Cruz said it still gets "significant" play in KQMQ's Top 40 format.

Cruz says the impact of the speech is heightened by the music: "The music is incorporated to fit the mood of what he's talking about. It makes you think back and then it makes you think ahead."

"If you listen to the lyrics, they're really true. It adds a lot of life to everybody's life," says Hudson, the single-monikered morning-drive DJ on Star 101.9. The station's modern adult contemporary format includes artists such as the Goo Goo Dolls and Sheryl Crow, but Hudson says she's been "swamped" with calls from people wanting more information since she began playing the song.

"It speaks to a lot of generations, and that's where its popularity stems from. The message is as appropriate to a young person as it is to an older person: Don't take your life for granted," says Jeff Silvers, director of programming for seven local radio stations including KSSK-AM 59, KSSS-FM, Star 101.9, KKLV-FM, and I-94. Star 101.9 and KSSK usually have little music in common, but Perry & Price have been playing "Sunscreen" on their morning KSSK simulcasts.

Silvers feels that the song is a popular novelty that will wear out its welcome. Bill George, Program Director and afternoon drive personality at Star 101.9, agrees, but expects it to be around for a while longer.

"It's one of those songs that transcends demographics. I've had everybody from kids to people who are probably in their 40s and beyond (and) it is probably the most requested and most called about song on the station right now.

"In about two weeks this song will probably be gone from the radio landscape (but) it will probably resurface around graduation week. It may be a flash in the pan, but it's an interesting one."

If you find a copy of the album that has a cover that looks like a photo album, hang on to it! Capitol has rereleased it with a more eye-catching design and changed the sequence of the songs. Finding a copy of either version may be a challenge. The original limited-edition single is already a collectors' item.

"We were selling (the album) out last month so we began placing bigger orders," says Ormando Hermann, CD buyer at Tower Records Keeaumoku. Hermann adds that the more copies he ordered, the faster they sold.

Hermann likes the song: "It tells a story but it has a good beat to it."

However -- as Silvers and George suspect -- there are people who have had enough.

Tess Baraquio of Harmony Productions is one of them: "I think I've heard it over 200 times already. I can't stand to hear it again."

Clip this out and give it to your favorite Class of '99 grad Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) By Mary Smich Read by Baz Luhrmann Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99: Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been probed by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice, now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you can imagine. Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you. Sing. Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements. Stretch. Don't feel guilty if you don't know what to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't know. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone. Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's. Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And then you do you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out. Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look like 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more that it's worth. But trust me on the sunscreen.

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