I’m not sure if TV them songs fall under copywrite rules so I won’t post the words but I know who Lady Godiva (the freedom rider), Joan of Arc (she really cooked!) and Betsy who got it all sewn up. But who was Isabella the bra burner?
Could it be Isadora? Isadora Duncan?
Isadora rhymes just as well with bra burner as does Isabella. So, have I been singing that song wrong for, um, — HOLY CRAP, 42 years!
And you could have found out over 13 years earlier! 
So it wasn’t Pia Zadora?
There was a discussion about this back in 2001:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=60312
EDIT: I skipped over Kimstu’s link to the same thread. Sorry!
Psst, Cartoonacy, look up two posts above yours.
Unfortunately, Isadora should have kept the bra and ditched the scarf.
If I’d known the name was Isadora and not Isabella, I probably would have found that thread myself. Or figured it out myself.
TV theme songs are certainly under copyright. The only issue is whether it is fair use to quote a portion of them when asking a question.
For all practical purposes the answer is yes. Go ahead and post the words.
So who’s Isadora?
Guess I should check the links to the older topic.
If the song is referring to Isadora Duncan, what’s so progressive/feminist about her that she deserves mention in the song? As far as I’m aware, she’s only known for two things: dancing, and the manner in which she died. A Ctrl+S of her Wikipedia entry finds no mention of suffragism or feminism, except that she spent some time with a “lesbian feminist,” leading to speculation that they were involved.
Then again, it does mention she’d become a Soviet citizen by the time she died, so she was at least progressive/leftist in that way.
Relevant link to the Family Guy gag about the Maude theme song
Don’t feel bad. For decades I thought the song’s lyrics were:
*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
Angefax she showed up.
And when the country was falling apart
Betsy Ross got it all sewed up. *
So I knew who Lady Godiva, Joan of Arc, Isadora, and Betsy Ross were. But who was this mysterious “Angefax”? How was her name spelled? And when and where did she show up?
Then, about a year ago, this decades-old mystery recurred to me and I realized I could now use the internet to help me solve it.
What I found is that the line is “And you’re glad she showed up”. Or maybe “Ain’t you glad she showed up?” But either way, there is no Angefax and never had been.
Well, actually *reading *the few hundred words and glancing at any of the more focused biographies elsewhere would have told you that she lived a scandalous life, by even the standards of the 1920s, and associated with other scandalous figures. She was extremely liberated sexually and in behavior (including dress and nudity).
Searching for a few keywords on WP will only confirm some schmo thinks exactly like you do, or doesn’t.
I swear if I’d known this story before I joined the Dope, there a good chance I would’ve made Angefax my user name.
The Maude theme:
No Angefax
Oh, theme songs. :smack: