"The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" is a song by American singer–comedian

Julie Brown Julie Ann Brown (born August 31, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, screen/television writer, singer-songwriter, and television director. Brown is known for her work in the 1980s, where she often played a quintessential valley girl charac ...

. It appeared as the B-side to her 1983 single " I Like 'em Big and Stupid". Brown's satire of

valley girl A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, fr ...

culture also parodies 1950s-1960s "teen tragedy" songs.Joe Cobb. "Sounds" (album reviews column), ''Boston Globe'', February 14, 1985, Calendar section, page 7.Don Edwards. "'50s not all 'Happy Days' for Bo Diddley", ''Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader'', July 8, 1985, page C3: ''"For a second iddleywatched a Home Box Office video, a sadistic parody of 1950s' rock 'n' roll with a song that went: 'Everybody run - the homecoming queen's got a gun ...' Then he turned the dial ... ."''

Description

The song and its

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

,Rick Bentley. "Mall mining: strip malls are a rich comic vein for Julie Brown's new TV series," ''Fresno Bee'', June 22, 2000, page E3. directed by Tom Daley, begins as a satire of a 1950s'

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

song, recounting the homecoming dance in which her best friend, Debi, is crowned queen. Once that happens, the tone changes to 1980s

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

as Debi unexpectedly pulls out a weapon and begins indiscriminately killing classmates and teachers at the parade (the singer, in keeping with the Valley Girl stereotype of being oblivious and self-absorbed, shows remarkable lack of sympathy for the deaths of the entire glee club and the math teacher).Calvin Gilbert. "More jazz, gospel themes on Poetic Champions" (album reviews), ''The Advocate'' (Baton Rouge, La.), October 2, 1987, "Fun" section, page 2: "Julie Brown is more about comedy than music. The best song title, 'The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun,' is not much more than a 'valley girl' description of what happened that night at the prom." In the end, the police fire a warning shot at Debi, which proves unexpectedly fatal; the singer runs to Debi's side and asks her why she went on the killing spree. As her

last words Last words are the final utterances before death. The meaning is sometimes expanded to somewhat earlier utterances. Last words of famous or infamous people are sometimes recorded (although not always accurately) which became a historical and liter ...

, Debi confesses that she "did it for Johnny".

Releases

The song first appeared as a B-side to Brown's 1983 self-released single " I Like 'em Big and Stupid", and took off after frequent play on ''The

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

Show'' led to radio airplay around the US. It would become what music critic Jonathan Taylor called "one of the most delightfully silly singles and videos of the past few years."Jonathan Taylor. "Insiders, outsiders can learn the business at music symposium," ''Daily News of Los Angeles'', ''L.A. Life'' section, page 22. "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun" was re-released (along with its A-side) on Brown's 1984 EP ''

Goddess in Progress ''Goddess in Progress'' is a 1984 EP (labeled as a "Specially Priced Mini LP") by Julie Brown, released on Rhino Records on 12" vinyl and cassette. The two tracks on side one first appeared on Brown's independently released 1983 single " I Like ' ...

'' on

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

(RNEP610). It also appears on the novelty label's subsequent release – the compilation ''

Teenage Tragedies ''Teenage Tragedies'' (aka ''Teenage Tragedy'') is a compilation album of teen tragedy songs released on Rhino Entertainment, Rhino Records in 1984. Release data The album was conceived and compiled by Rhino Records co-founder Richard Foos. Boa ...

'' (RNEP611) – packaged with nine other songs, original '50s and '60s "death discs" of the type her song parodies.Joe Brown. "Girls just wanna rock on (album reviews)," ''Washington Post'' Weekend section, January 25, 1985, page 43. It also appears on the 1991 Rhino compilation ''

Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection is a release by radio disc jockey Dr. Demento to celebrate 20 years since the beginning of his radio career and novelty song show. It covers many of the novelty and comedy songs from the 1950s to the 1980s ...

''. A re-recorded dance version appeared as a B-side to Brown's 2005 single " I Want to Be Gay". In October 2008, Brown released a re-written version, "The Ex-Beauty Queen's Got a Gun," parodying Republican vice presidential candidate

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

during Palin's bid for election with

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

. Available digitally only, the low-budget recording has Brown singing new lyrics over a previously released karaoke version of the original song. As such, the prerecorded backing vocals sing words that do not match the new lyrics.

Reception

At least one reviewer cited the song as evidence of a sea change in

novelty songs A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

, observing: "The songs got sicker and more nihilistic. In 1960, a pretty girl wore an '

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" is a novelty song telling the story of a shy girl wearing a revealing polka dot bikini at the beach. It was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and first released in June 1960 by Brian Hyland ...

'; in 1985, a pretty girl in Julie Brown's cult classic "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" grabs a machine gun and does a

Rambo Rambo is a surname with Norwegian (Vestfold) and Swedish origins. It possibly originated with '' ramn'' + '' bo'', meaning "raven's nest". It has variants in French (''Rambeau'', ''Rambaut'', and ''Rimbaud'') and German (''Rambow''). It is now best ...

on most of the senior class."Phil Kloer. "Tracking -- record reviews -- novelty," ''The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution'', November 23, 1985, L28. The song was ranked No. 488 in the KROQ Flashback 500 of 1988 and No. 324 in the

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

Flashback 500 of 1996. It was included in a special by the Australian national radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

on school songs in 2001. Brown admitted in a July 2000 interview that after the

Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...

she no longer felt comfortable performing "Homecoming Queen", even though the circumstances of the song were quite different from the real-life events, and it had been comic at the time of its debut. "I can be very sensitive about whether I am doing something that will hurt people," Brown said. "So you are always drawing the comedy line of what you will or won't do."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun, The 1984 songs Julie Brown songs Novelty songs Songs about teenagers