I don't know how many people still know this, but when Cyndi Lauper released "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," not only did it shoot to the top of the charts, it rocketed to record play-time in gay clubs all over the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

Even in the little speakeasy of a gay dive where I hung out in Des Moines ... As soon as the first notes would play, we'd jump to our feet and run to the tiny dance floor, crowding together to express kinetic queer joy.

Is Lauper's anthem without problems? Of course not. Is anything?

Does it express certain stereotypes? Of course! They're part of the world we all live in, and context matters. A lot.

Lauper wasn't selling stereotypes, she was subverting them and glorying in joy of not just subversion, but of liberated womanhood.

Okay, maybe that's a bit over the top for a bubblegum dance number, but ... Bubblegum pop has a long tradition, and people rarely diss it out of hand just because of the genre. (Well, some people do, but they seem most often to be misogynistic men.)

So, as you point out, Dylan's single hardly ranks up there with the best of the genre, but what? Everyone is a super serious music critic these days? Sheesh.

Why do people have to be so mean?