Released: October 14, 1983

Songwriter: John Turi Cyndi Lauper

[Verse 1]
You're sorry now
And you'll change somehow
I am what you need to get out

[Chorus]
But I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness
No, I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness

[Verse 2]
'Cause I'm crawling back
I'm searching the right track
Standing at last, I'm sure

[Chorus]
And I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness
No, I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness

[Break]
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh,-oh-oh-oh

[Verse 3]
Jailbird, chained to walk
How you used to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk
But the melody
None at all, my love

[Chorus]
And I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness
And I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness

[Break]
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh,-oh-oh-oh
Witness
Witness
Yeah, yeah
Ooh

[Chorus]
Please, let me out this time
'Cause I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness
No, I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness
No, I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness
I don't wanna be
No, I don't wanna be, no
Don't wanna be a witness
I don't wanna be
No, I don't wanna be, oh
Don't wanna be a witness
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be a witness

[Outro]
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh,-oh-oh-oh
Witness

Cyndi Lauper

An 80’s pop starlet that skyrocketed her way to the top of the mainstream game, Cyndi Lauper has made her mark as an artist both socially and musically.

Beginning her solo career in the 1983 with hit debut album She’s So Unusual, Lauper came to be a household name with the four top-five hits that came with the record, including breakthrough single “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and the visceral, chart-topping “Time After Time”. Her camp attitude, electrifying vocals, and unrelenting earworms made an impression on the general public, and she would take home Best New Artist and Best Album Package at the Grammy’s for She’s So Unusual, amidst 4 other nominations. Lauper would never reach the same sort of stardom again musically following She’s So Unusual, but her legacy was far from over.

She’s So Unusual set the ground for her next True Colors. Released in 1986, the album most notably contained title-track “True Colors”, which would grow to become a primary anthem of the gay rights movement. Lauper would later serve as a key advocate of the LGBT community, and she has fairly consistently addressed homophobia throughout her career.