“Lady Godiva was a freedom rider
She didn’t care if the whole world looked.
Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her,
She was a sister who really cooked. da da da da was the first bra burner, da da da da da da(oh yeah)
And when the country was falling apart,
Betsy Ross got it all sewed up.”
I remember watching “Maude” as a kid, and I can’t believe that I would have understood it as a 10 or 11 year old. Did anyone else watch it as a kid? Did your parents let you?
Lady Godiva was a freedom rider;
She didn’t care if the whole world looked.
Joan of Arc, with the Lord to guide her;
She was a sister who really cooked.
Isadora was the first bra burner;
Ain’t ya glad she showed up?
Oh, yeah!
And when the country was falling apart,
Betsy Ross got it all sewed up.
And then there’s Maude,
And then there’s Maude,
And then there’s Maude,
And then there’s Maude,
And then there’s Maude,
And then there’s Maude,
And then there’s…
That uncompromising, enterprising, anything but tranquilizing,
Right on, Maude!
as sung by Donny Hathaway no less.
I don’t know who Isadora was either.
tlmtlm59—You make a good impression by jumping with with the complete lyrics and singer, then blow the whole effect by saying “I don’t know who Isadora was either?”
I have heard the name, and now I know and will probably never forget who she is. Dance is not one of the arts I know a whole lot about, and if you’ve seen me dance you’d know why(yes, I’m a guy). So she was also the first bra-burner in addition to the dance I’m assuming???
I never liked the show that much, Bea Arthur was never a favorite, and I’m sure my parents would have let me watch if I wanted to. It was a spin-off of All in The Family if I remember??
Yes, as was “The Jeffersons” (the next door neighbors), and “Maude” (Edith’s cousin, IIRC), spawned “Good Times” (Florida, the maid). I don’t remember if George Jefferson’s maid got her own show.
Isadora was a free-spirit and independent woman. As Eve’s web-reference pointed out, she was a cataclyst for change in dance, breaking free of stodginess (not the word I am lookjing for but you get the idea). On thinking it over more, I believe the line in the theme song compares her to the ‘Women’s Lib’ movement of the 60s and 70s, breaking free from “societal norms” (of which, from what I have read recently, no one actually participated in undergarmental conflagrations - more of a journalistic myth [I’ll find a cite later]).
Then again, she may have burned a bra. I wouldn’t put it past her.
She did: Checking In. Also, Gloria Stivic had her own show called Gloria.
(This All in the Family spin-off post is dedicated to the memory of Carroll O’Connor, without whom, none of these spin-offs would be possible. I think.)