Wear Sunscreen is the common name of an essay, (actually called "ADVICE, LIKE YOUTH, PROBABLY JUST WASTED ON THE YOUNG " - The original column by Mary Schmich of The Chicago Tribune. June 1, 1997) written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997. The most popular and well-known form of the essay is the successful music single released in 1999, accredited to Baz Luhrmann.
Click here to read Mary Schmich's version of how her article was miscredited to Kurt Vonnegut via e-mail and became hugely popular. The song, on the CD Something for Everybody by Baz Luhrmann, is properly credited to Schmich.
"One of the most surreal singles in memory, "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" has an even stranger story than you'd imagine: in 1998, a student lifted the text of an article columnist Mary Schmich had written for the Chicago Tribune and started sending it around the world, crediting it as a commencement speech given at MIT by Kurt Vonnegut. Film director Baz Luhrmann (who had taken a big part in designing the soundscapes of his films Strictly Ballroom and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) got his hands on it just as he was working on a remix of Rozalla's 1992 dance hit "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)." Within a day, Luhrmann had hired a local actor to read the text, and a single was born. It's a wonderfully surreal pop-cultural moment on an album that strives for such things. Luhrmann's modus operandi involves the remixing and customizing of tracks until they have a fabulous sheen, and it owes a lot to the equally media-attuned Malcolm McLaren (and especially to McLaren's 1989 album Waltz Darling). Though he throws in a handful of time-tested songs (Doris Day's "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps," La Bohème's "Che Gelide Manina"), Something for Everybody is very much of a specific moment--and though the moment may pass, fans will enjoy revisiting it time and again." --Randy Silver
Wear Sunscreen was set to music, renamed Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (aka The Sunscreen Song) and released on an album by Australian film director Baz Luhrmann. The single was released by Luhrmann under the EMI Music Australia Pty. Ltd. label on the 1998 album Something for Everybody and on a 1999 single release.
Contrary to popular belief the essay is not read by Baz Luhrmann on the track; it is read by Australian voice actor Lee Perry. Quindon Tarver performs the lyrics on the chorus.
The song features a spoken-word track set over a mellow backing track. The song lyrics, which consist of a litany of humourous but practical advice, were drawn word for word from the Schmich column except for a date change from "'97" to "'99" - although an early version has been found with the original line of "Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97" still in place.
The supposed story behind the single was that Baz Luhrmann delivered a speech to a graduating class and it was thought that they were well spoken and sage enough to be played beyond those walls. When a radio station was propositioned to play the speech they turned it down saying that they only played songs with music behind them. The idea was put forward to accompany the words with music and once it began playing became more and more popular till it was officially released.
In the 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet directed by Luhrmann the melody of the backing track can be heard being sung by a choir.
In 1999 the song was a part of the end credits in John Swanbeck's movie The Big Kahuna, starring Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito and Peter Facinelli.
The single's title is likely based on the song "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" which was released in 1991 by Rozalla.
Wear Sunscreen
(Mary Schmich)
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy.
Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.
The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults.
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters.
Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can.
Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.
It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
Parody
The Baz Luhrmann song version inspired numerous parodies. John Safran released a song entitled "Not the Sunscreen Song". The musician and comedian Chris Rock enjoyed great success with his spoken word song "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)." Denis Leary performed a version called "Drink Beer". This version was also parodied in an episode of House of Mouse where Jimminy Cricket performed it.
........
my friend dipen has sent it to me..
jo hota hai acche ke liye hota hai
jo hua acche ke liye hua
jo hoga woh bhi acche ke liye hoga
parivartan hi sansar ka niyam hai
means..
whatever happened in past happened for good
what is happening is for good
what will happen is gonna happen for good
change is the only permanent thing in this world
so..change your way to see life
and get living
doing the best you can
.
.
.
good luck!
.
.
.
Click here to read Mary Schmich's version of how her article was miscredited to Kurt Vonnegut via e-mail and became hugely popular. The song, on the CD Something for Everybody by Baz Luhrmann, is properly credited to Schmich.
"One of the most surreal singles in memory, "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" has an even stranger story than you'd imagine: in 1998, a student lifted the text of an article columnist Mary Schmich had written for the Chicago Tribune and started sending it around the world, crediting it as a commencement speech given at MIT by Kurt Vonnegut. Film director Baz Luhrmann (who had taken a big part in designing the soundscapes of his films Strictly Ballroom and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) got his hands on it just as he was working on a remix of Rozalla's 1992 dance hit "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)." Within a day, Luhrmann had hired a local actor to read the text, and a single was born. It's a wonderfully surreal pop-cultural moment on an album that strives for such things. Luhrmann's modus operandi involves the remixing and customizing of tracks until they have a fabulous sheen, and it owes a lot to the equally media-attuned Malcolm McLaren (and especially to McLaren's 1989 album Waltz Darling). Though he throws in a handful of time-tested songs (Doris Day's "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps," La Bohème's "Che Gelide Manina"), Something for Everybody is very much of a specific moment--and though the moment may pass, fans will enjoy revisiting it time and again." --Randy Silver
Wear Sunscreen was set to music, renamed Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (aka The Sunscreen Song) and released on an album by Australian film director Baz Luhrmann. The single was released by Luhrmann under the EMI Music Australia Pty. Ltd. label on the 1998 album Something for Everybody and on a 1999 single release.
Contrary to popular belief the essay is not read by Baz Luhrmann on the track; it is read by Australian voice actor Lee Perry. Quindon Tarver performs the lyrics on the chorus.
The song features a spoken-word track set over a mellow backing track. The song lyrics, which consist of a litany of humourous but practical advice, were drawn word for word from the Schmich column except for a date change from "'97" to "'99" - although an early version has been found with the original line of "Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97" still in place.
The supposed story behind the single was that Baz Luhrmann delivered a speech to a graduating class and it was thought that they were well spoken and sage enough to be played beyond those walls. When a radio station was propositioned to play the speech they turned it down saying that they only played songs with music behind them. The idea was put forward to accompany the words with music and once it began playing became more and more popular till it was officially released.
In the 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet directed by Luhrmann the melody of the backing track can be heard being sung by a choir.
In 1999 the song was a part of the end credits in John Swanbeck's movie The Big Kahuna, starring Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito and Peter Facinelli.
The single's title is likely based on the song "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" which was released in 1991 by Rozalla.
Wear Sunscreen
(Mary Schmich)
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy.
Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.
The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults.
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters.
Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can.
Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.
It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
Parody
The Baz Luhrmann song version inspired numerous parodies. John Safran released a song entitled "Not the Sunscreen Song". The musician and comedian Chris Rock enjoyed great success with his spoken word song "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)." Denis Leary performed a version called "Drink Beer". This version was also parodied in an episode of House of Mouse where Jimminy Cricket performed it.
........
my friend dipen has sent it to me..
jo hota hai acche ke liye hota hai
jo hua acche ke liye hua
jo hoga woh bhi acche ke liye hoga
parivartan hi sansar ka niyam hai
means..
whatever happened in past happened for good
what is happening is for good
what will happen is gonna happen for good
change is the only permanent thing in this world
so..change your way to see life
and get living
doing the best you can
.
.
.
good luck!
.
.
.
