Jill Sobule, I Kissed a Girl | Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈

In the 37th edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight the song, “I Kissed a Girl” performed by Jill Sobule. 

Prepare to beam with P-R-I-D-E 🏳️‍🌈! Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 celebrates, embraces, and spotlights songs by LGBTQ musicians or allies.  Here, we provide background and insight into musician(s) and analyze + go gaga over the decadent bops served up.  When the music dictates deeper, more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is fully articulated.  All styles of music are welcome while the songs can be classics or brand-spanking new. So, without further ado, in the 37^th edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight “I Kissed a Girl” performed by Jill Sobule.

“So, we laughed, compared notes / We had a drink, we had a smoke / She took off her overcoat…” Okay, so, what happened next, Jill Sobule? Why, “I Kissed a Girl”, of course! “I Kissed a Girl” is the seventh track from the deceased (😥) musician’s 1995 self-titled album. What did she and her friend, Jenny, compare notes about? Their questionable boyfriends include Brad, who is “dumb as a box of hammers,” and Larry, whom Jill believes, “I think I can do better.” Oh, snap! Sobule wrote the bi-curious/gay gem with Robin Eaton.  Brad Jones and Eaton produced it.  “Kissed” impacted the pop charts modestly, peaking at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“I Kissed a Girl” not only satisfies because of its queerness (“They can have their diamonds / And we’ll have our pearls” 🤭), but also, its musicianship.  The sound is eclectic, with country, folk, pop, and rock sensibilities. The groove is particularly satisfying. There is an awesome, distorted, and mean-sounding guitar solo that appears toward the end of the song.  Sobule delivers beautiful, playful, and tongue-in-cheek vocals. As the song progresses, it sounds like her vocal performance grows even more confident and more dynamic.  Still, it is those queer lyrics that catch our ears. After Jenny tells her boyfriend she’ll be late, she feels guilty, considering, she’s kissing Jill.  “Then I looked at you, you had guilt in your eyes,” Sobule sings in the second verse, expanding on the rendezvous, continuing, “But it only lasted a little while / And then I felt your hand above my knee.” Oh, snap! While Sobule acknowledges kissing “a girl won’t change the world,” she’s glad she did and admits, after kissing a girl for the first time, “Won’t be the last time.” Word. Rest in peace, Jill Sobule.  You left an LGBTQ+ gem for the ages with “I Kissed a Girl”, which preceded another bi-curious “I Kissed A Girl” (Katy Perry) by 13 years.

Jill Sobule // Jill Sobule // Atlantic Recording Corporation // 1995

Jill Sobule, I Kissed a Girl: Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 No. 37 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; Atlantic Recording Corporation; Elias Souza, Mario Spencer, Mizuno K from Pexels;  All_CC0_Public_domain, CatsWithGlasses, David, ernestflowerss, Kelly, M. Harris, Marek Studzinski, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]