The inspiration for this song, which was written somewhere around 2008, was a story on National Public Radio (Morning Edition or All Things Considered) about two transgendered girls (biological males) whose families had chosen to rear them in distinctly different ways. I mentally extrapolated a possible result of these choices, and wrote the song. Like most of my songs, the lyrics came pretty easily once i had the structure in my mind.
Before i had chosen a melody for it, i used “The Ballad of the Green Berets” to make sure that the lines scanned properly. Somewhat ironic, i guess.
For variety in my song writing, i decided on an odd structure for the verses: each consists of two parts, the first part having four lines and the second part six lines. That, plus the fact that i chose to make it a 3/4 song, has had the effect that it took me a long time to find a satisfactory guitar accompaniment for it.
I’ve sung the song in public relatively few times, primarily due to the subject matter, but in part because i mostly sang it a capella and my voice doesn’t do it justice. However, i think that i now have a guitar accompaniment that satisfies me, i play guitar when i sing it.