276:, Pope confirmed that while she intended the lyric from her own perspective as a lesbian, the ambiguity was intentional: "The general public didn't get that I was gay – if you were gay you did – and when I wrote love songs, I wanted them to be interpreted however. The thing is, I really, really love men – straight men are very sexy as long as, you know, they don't try – and I think that comes across in my songs. Rock 'n' roll is about desire and passion, and I'm singing to both sexes."
248:, as well as references which suggest that the song is set in a similar time frame, the lyrics do not strongly resemble the film's drug-related plot. Instead, the song's narrator is a student observing a sexy female classmate, a "cool blonde scheming bitch" whose activities suggest that she may be having sexual relations with adult men, including the high school
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paid for the band to record a cleaned-up version that avoided the line, "She makes me cream my jeans when she comes my way." (The band's subsequent hit "Crimes of
Passion", which included an explicit verse about a
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At the time of its release, it was one of the most sexually explicit songs ever to reach the
Canadian pop charts, and despite the sexual ambiguity, the first with such strong lesbian overtones.
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The lyrics never explicitly state the narrator's own sex, so they may be read either as Pope speaking from a male perspective, or as a reference to lesbianism. In a 2000 interview with
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in
Toronto on May 30 of the same year. However, some radio stations refused to play the song, and others played a censored version with some of the most controversial lyrics removed;
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released "The
Pleasure Principal", a response song in which the high school's principal calls Pope to the office to discuss Pope's obsession with her classmate.
267:, and reveals her own unrequited lust for her: in one of the most famous lyrics from the song, Pope sings "She makes me cream my jeans when she comes my way".
390:, performing a lip synch to "High School Confidential" in his local gay bar. In 2022, the song was used as a Lip Sync for Your Life number in the
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In 2005, "High School
Confidential" was named the 38th greatest Canadian song of all time on the
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In 2000, Pope recorded a new version of "High School
Confidential" for the television series
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Although controversial, the song was a Top 20 hit, peaking at No. 12 nationwide on the
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as the songwriters, but the Rough Trade song is not a cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis song
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presentation that year, "seeing set a tone for me that I could be out, no question".
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was apparently inspired by seeing the band perform the number on the televised
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593:"‘Canada’s Drag Race’ Season 3, Episode 2 recap: And the award goes to …"
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428:.) This version appears on the show's first season soundtrack album.
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420:-Zack O'Toole". (Zack O'Toole was a fictional porn star in
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574:"In Jump, Darling, Cloris Leachman shines one last time"
219:". It was written by the band's main songwriting team,
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354:covered "High School Confidential" on their album
242:Although the song uses the title of the 1958 film
196:hit in Canada, it remains their most famous song.
297:Chart) on June 20, 1981 and at No. 8 on the
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386:features lead character Russell, an aspiring
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337:The song appeared in the 1991 Canadian film
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310:couple, also faced similar controversy.)
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543:. Vintage Canada, 2001, p.143. par. 1
328:") covered the song on her 1995 album
563:. Vintage Canada, 2001, p.144. par. 1
227:. Some references incorrectly credit
148:"What's the Furor about the Führer?"
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472:Reynolds, Bill (November 23, 2000).
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374:50 Tracks: The Canadian Version
324:(now known by her stage name "
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633:LGBTQ-related music in Canada
293:singles chart (#1 on their
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643:True North Records singles
474:"Rough Trade confidential"
456:"Rough Trade: Avoid Freud"
192:. The band's breakthrough
24:"High School Confidential"
18:1980 single by Rough Trade
530:CHUM Chart, May 30, 1981.
350:In 1999, the German band
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628:Rough Trade (band) songs
245:High School Confidential
199:The song's producer was
186:, from their 1980 album
178:" is a song by Canadian
176:High School Confidential
155:High School Confidential
445:Rough Trade discography
638:Lesbian-related songs
512:. RPM. June 20, 1981
486:on November 27, 2001
360:. In 2004, the band
209:Producer of the Year
362:Lesbians on Ecstasy
648:Songs about school
397:Canada's Drag Race
331:Fancypants Hoodlum
139:singles chronology
549:978-0-679-31137-9
426:Matthew G. Taylor
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506:"RPM 50 Singles"
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618:1980 singles
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579:The Province
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514:. Retrieved
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488:. Retrieved
484:the original
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424:, played by
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392:third season
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162:"All Touch"
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357:Dreamscapes
345:Atom Egoyan
318:Juno Awards
254:sex symbols
221:Carole Pope
189:Avoid Freud
184:Rough Trade
137:Rough Trade
124:Producer(s)
109:Carole Pope
43:Avoid Freud
34:Rough Trade
623:1980 songs
612:Categories
479:Eye Weekly
432:References
418:Tom Cruise
388:drag queen
352:Alphaville
299:CHUM Chart
273:Eye Weekly
205:Juno Award
92:True North
561:Anti Diva
541:Anti Diva
314:k.d. lang
250:principal
516:July 12,
490:July 12,
460:AllMusic
308:gay male
180:new wave
62:Released
371:series
326:Peaches
303:CHUM-FM
164:(1981)
159:(1980)
150:(1980)
94:TN4-159
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295:CANCON
265:Dagmar
194:Top 40
70:Length
52:B-side
30:Single
598:Xtra!
217:Tokyo
182:band
87:Label
545:ISBN
518:2011
492:2011
263:and
231:and
223:and
215:'s "
207:for
65:1980
422:QAF
394:of
290:RPM
32:by
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