Bad Romance:
Women's Suffrage


About the video

Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage is a parody music video paying homage to Alice Paul and the generations of brave women who joined together in the fight to pass the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote in 1920.

In 2010, Soomo Learning launched a parody music video called Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration. The result was a viral hit and remains a popular teaching resource for history teachers and political science professors across the United States. The response was so overwhelming that Soomo decided to follow it up with Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage.

If you aren't familiar with the original video that prompted this parody, you should watch the original by Lady Gaga (content advisory for suggestive/violent imagery). The song "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga went to number one in 17 countries and peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The video won a Grammy and seven MTV Video Music Awards.

Making music videos isn't Soomo's main focus, but education is. Check out our Teaching Resources for more information on how this video can be used as a learning tool.


Lyrics

Oh oh oh oh...
Caught in a Bad Romance!
Oh oh oh oh...
Caught in a Bad Romance!

Vo vo votes ah ah aah
Whoa aa, won’t ta aah
Stop ha, ooo la la
Til we have suffrage!
Vo vo votes ah ah aah
Whoa aa, won’t ta aah
Stop ha, ooo la la
Til we have suffrage!

It's gotten ugly
They passed the 15th
Still women have no right
Nor guarantee
To liberty
Child, health, wealth
Or property

Hey! We’ll raise our banner
Across this land hey!
‘Cause franchise isn’t just
The right of a man
Universal
Yuh, yuh, yuh, it’s universal!
Yuh, yuh, yuh, universal!

You know we don't want to
Take freedoms from you
Just want our rights and nothing less

We cry for freedom
Oh, hear our voice
And see we’re equal to all men!
Oh oh oh oh...
We the whole people
Not just male citizens
Formed this most perfect Union!

Oh oh oh oh...
Caught in a Bad Romance!
Oh oh oh oh...
Caught in a Bad Romance!

Vo vo votes ah ah aah
Whoa aa, won’t ta aah
Stop ha, ooo la la
Til we have suffrage!

It is a horror
A cruel design
That makes it criminal
a right that is mine
I want the vote
vote, vote, vote
I want to vote

Well, I think you’re psycho
I think that it’s sick
I’m queen of my home, raise my babies
That’s it
Don’t need to vote
No, no, she don’t want to vote!
No, no, no, don’t want to vote

The rights of citizens
Shall not be denied or abridged
New legislation, baby!
By the United States
On account of sex

We cry for freedom
Oh hear our voice
And see we’re equal to all men!
Oh oh oh oh...
We the whole people, not
Just male citizens
Formed this most perfect Union

Oh oh oh oh...
Caught in a Bad Romance!
Oh oh oh oh...
Caught in a Bad Romance!

Vo vo votes ah ah
Whoa ah, won’t ta ah
Stop ha, ooo la la
Til we have suffrage!

March, march, be courageous
Fighting
For our rights we may just
Start greatness for the ages
Freedom it is contagious
March, march, be courageous
Fighting
For our rights we may just
Start greatness for the ages
Remember the ladies

Not to be above
but equal to all men
We only ask to be
Part of this Union!
Comme dirait le Français:
c'est Démocratie!
Permettez-moi participer!*

I’m a citizen
Of this nation!
An American!
I want suffrage! And independence!

We cry for freedom
Oh, hear our voice
And see we’re equal to all men!
Oh oh oh oh...
We the whole people, not
Just male citizens
Formed this most perfect Union!

Oh oh oh oh...
I want to wear pants!
Caught in a Bad Romance
I want my suffrage!
Oh oh oh oh...
And independence!
Caught in a Bad Romance!

Vo vo votes ah ah
Woah ah, won’t ta ah
Stop ha, ooo la la
Now we have suffrage!

*As the French would say:
This is democracy! Let me participate!


Credits

Directed by: Tim Alden Grant
Written by: Emilia Fuentes Grant
Produced by: Lisa Corum
Featuring: Meredith Garrison
Also featuring: Dan Williams, Tripp Hamilton, Sarah Barnhardt, Talmadge Ragan, Mae Spencer
And: K Margo
Director of Photography: Adam Hobbs
Production design by: Jeffery Barrows
Costume design by: Trent Pcenicni
Hair and make-up design by: Trent Pcenicni
Choreography by: Jena Burgin-Peters
Music produced by: Mack Brock, Aaron Robertson
Lyrics by: Emilia Fuentes Grant
Vocals by: Stephenie Sanders
Associate Producer: Zara Elizabeth Crockett
Edited by: Tim Alden Grant

Cast

Alice Paul: Meredith Garrison
Woodrow Wilson: Dan Williams
Harry Burn: Tripp Hamilton
Mother: Sarah Barnhardt
Cook: Talmadge Ragan
Laundry Girl: Mae Spencer
Anti-Suffragette: K Margo
The Silent Sentinels: K Margo
, Katie Caldwell
, Macie McCain
, Hailey Nicholson, 
Chelsea Resch, 
Whitney Seay
Baby Son: Maks Sizemore
Husband: Jason Blackman
Red Rose Senators (Left to Right): Bill Grant, John Layton, Paul Metzger
Yellow Rose Senators (Left to Right): Tyler Ford
, Matthew Cheney
, Jere S Thomas
Scoundrels (Left to Right): John Layton,
 Tyler Ford,
 Bill Grant, 
Jere S Thomas
Political Boss: Paul Metzger
Psych Ward Orderlies (Left to Right): Mike Tangalakis
, 
Paul Metzger
Police (Left to Right): Paul Metzger, 
Mike Tangalakis

A Soomo Learning Production
Bad Romance: Women's Suffrage

Unit Production Management by: Ron Aldridge
Gaffer: Bob Schaner
First Assistant Camera: Greg Hudgins
Second Assistant Camera: Jason Dullin
Production Assistant: William Powell
Prop Master: Johnnie Jones
Grip: Craig LaVenture
Assistant to Mrs. Burgin-Peters: Eddie Mabry
Wardrobe Supervisor: Ivey Barker
Makeup Artists: Trent Pcenicni, Jillian Brady Williams
Hair Stylist: Katie Pcenicni
Visual Effects by: Michael Jones
Colorist: Adam Hobbs
adamhobbs.tv
Catering by: Chef Jennifer Brulé
On Set Photography by: Mike D’Avria
Carpenters: "Bubba" Jonathan Barrows, "Papa B." Robert Barrows
Shot in Studio At: The Broadcast Group, Fort Mill, SC
Special Thanks To: Small HD, Greensboro Day School


Teaching resources

Glossary of terms

  • 19th Amendment: The amendment to the U.S. Constitution that granted women the right to vote, passed in 1919 and ratified in 1920
  • Anti-Suffrage: The counter movement which opposed giving women the right to vote
  • Franchise: A privilege, right, or authorization granted by the government
  • Hobble Skirt: A style of skirt popular in the early 1900s characterized by a hemline so narrow that it severely restricted the wearer's stride
  • Hunger Strike: The act of fasting in non-violent protest
  • National Woman’s Party (NWP): A political organization founded by Alice Paul in 1916 whose primary mission was a federal constitutional amendment and was known for using radical tactics
  • Silent Sentinels: A term coined by Harriot Stanton Blatch, daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to describe the group of women who protested silently outside the White House for six days a week from 1917 to 1919

Links

Commemoration

National Women's Party

Alice Paul

Suffrage Strategies

Women of Protest Collection

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

NYTimes

Antisuffrage