"Beauty Optional"

The idea of beauty is one I’ve explored in a few songs, most obsessively in “The Perfect Mate.” I’ve often thought I am too shallow to have dep thoughts. “Beauty Optional” is about this shallowness. In high school, I was a jazz snob. Music snobbery is something I have to struggle against because I am a SERIOUS TRAINED musician, unlike those lightweight pop dilettantes. But in the 1980s, I turned my focus to pop music and worked hard not only on my sound but also my look. I have not lost that desire to look good, even though the pop star dreams are largely behind me. It may be a flimsy goal, but I feel better about myself when I look good.

Beauty Optional

© 1985 Brian Hutzell

Don't talk to me about war

I don't care

I've got to do something about my hair

Don't tell me I have to make a sacrifice

The only important thing in my life

Is my beauty

Beauty optional

Optional beauty

Merely optical

Vanity's duty

Beauty optional

Uniform pretty

Purely visual

Vanity's victory

Crusading is not for everyone

I am committed to the sun

Don't tell me I have to make a compromise

I can't do anything that might jeopardize

My beauty

Beauty optional

Optional beauty

Merely optical

Vanity's duty

Beauty optional

Uniform pretty

Purely visual

Vanity's victory

I'm even prettier in the shower

Where nothing covers me but the water

Beauty optional

Optional beauty

Merely optical

Vanity's duty

Beauty optional

Uniform pretty

Purely visual

Vanity's victory