This short 1 minute parodied song, The Girl That I Marry, is turned into a lesbian song, a sort of ode to butch lesbianism. The songwriter, Lisa Ben (a pen name playing off the word les/bian), was born Edythe D. Eyde, and she created the first known lesbian publication in the world, Vice Versa in the 1940s. She was also active in lesbian bars as a musician.
See below for Lisa Ben’s lyrics and the original lyrics by Irving Berlin. This song was featured in both Barbara Hammer’s History Lessons, an experimental documentary on lesbianism, and also in the documentary, Before Stonewall.
The Girl That I Marry by Lisa Ben
The girl that I marry will probably be
as butch as a hunk of machinery.
The girl I idolize will wear slacks with flat fronts,
tailored shirts and bow ties.
She’ll walk with a swagger and wear short hair
And keep me entranced with her tomboy air.
Instead of cruisin’ I’ll be usin’
Her shoulder to lean on while snoozin’
A faint hearted fairy, the girl I marry won’t be!
The Girl That I Marry Original Lyrics by Irving Berlin
The girl that I marry will have to be
as soft and as pink as a nursery.
The girl that I call my own
will wear satins and laces and smell of cologne.
Her nails will be polished and in her hair
she’ll wear a gardenia and I’ll be there
‘Stead of flittin’ I’ll be sittin’ next to her
and she’ll purr like a kitten.
A doll I can carry the girl that I marry must be.
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