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National Film and Sound Archive of AustraliaNational Film and Sound Archive
National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
National Film and Sound Archive
National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
National Film and Sound Archive

Baz Luhrmann presents Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

1997

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Baz Luhrmann presents Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

1997

    This is the long version of 'Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)', taken from Baz Luhrmann’s remix album Something for Everybody (1998). It features voice actor Lee Perry delivering journalist Mary Schmich’s 1997 column in the Chicago Tribune. A mock commencement address offering life advice on how to be happier, the essay spread across the early internet and was commonly misattributed to author Kurt Vonnegut.

    This viral twist during the World Wide Web's infancy contributes to the eccentric tonal mish-mash. Luhrmann asked Perry to imitate Vonnegut, and set the reading against a remix of Rozalla’s 1991 dance anthem 'Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)'. The result is part spoken-word PSA, part dance anthem, beginning with the instantly recognisable command: 'Wear sunscreen'.

    An edited version of the track became an unexpected international hit in 1999, reaching No. 1 across the UK, Ireland and Norway, and charting in the US, Australia and much of Europe. Its mixture of sincerity and irony captured the postmodern pop-culture mood of the late 1990s, when remixing ideas, texts and genres was central to mainstream entertainment.

    For Luhrmann, best known then for films like Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Strictly Ballroom (1992), the success of the track marked a crossover into the global music charts. Both a novelty and a major pop-cultural moment, it exemplifies how Australian creatives could reshape global culture in unexpected ways.

    This is the long version of 'Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)', taken from Baz Luhrmann’s remix album Something for Everybody (1998). It features voice actor Lee Perry delivering journalist Mary Schmich’s 1997 column in the Chicago Tribune. A mock commencement address offering life advice on how to be happier, the essay spread across the early internet and was commonly misattributed to author Kurt Vonnegut.

    This viral twist during the World Wide Web's infancy contributes to the eccentric tonal mish-mash. Luhrmann asked Perry to imitate Vonnegut, and set the reading against a remix of Rozalla’s 1991 dance anthem 'Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)'. The result is part spoken-word PSA, part dance anthem, beginning with the instantly recognisable command: 'Wear sunscreen'.

    An edited version of the track became an unexpected international hit in 1999, reaching No. 1 across the UK, Ireland and Norway, and charting in the US, Australia and much of Europe. Its mixture of sincerity and irony captured the postmodern pop-culture mood of the late 1990s, when remixing ideas, texts and genres was central to mainstream entertainment.

    For Luhrmann, best known then for films like Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Strictly Ballroom (1992), the success of the track marked a crossover into the global music charts. Both a novelty and a major pop-cultural moment, it exemplifies how Australian creatives could reshape global culture in unexpected ways.

    • Singer
      Quindon Tarver
      Speaker
      Lee Perry
      Executive Producer
      Baz Luhrmann
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