I'm trying to remember the name of a song and the singer...  but for
the life of me i can't.

It' came out between 96-2001 (i got a bad memory)

It was a song, but then again it wasn't.  It was just some guy giving
advice with a beat going.  They even played it at a few high school
graduations.  Like, "do this, but don't do that, laugh, dance, and
don't forget to wear sunscreen!"

Anyone help?

laytonj2000..

Thanks for your question.  The song you are referring to was made up
of music and the what has become known as The Graduation Speech. 
Originally attributed as the commencement address delivered by author
Kurt Vonnegut at the 1997 graduation of MIT, however, it turns out
that Vonnegut never gave a commencement address at MIT.  The column
originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune in a column by Mary
Schmich.  Due to copyright limitations, I cannot post the entire text
of the column here, however, it starts as follows:

"Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But
trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you
imagine."

The actual column appears here:

http://chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/chi-010622sunscreen.storygallery

Though the Trib charges a premium fee to view the article as it is
over 5 years old.  It is, however, posted on many websites.

A follow up article written by Ms. Schmich here:
http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:FuLBAPDbpxsJ:www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-970803cyperspace.column%3Fcoll%3Dchi-news-col+Vonnegut%3F+Schmich%3F&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

The actual song you are referring to is entitled "Everybody's Free (To
Wear Sunscreen)" was recorded by Lee Perry and Quindon Taver and was
released in 1998.

Thanks again for your question.  If you need any additional
clarification, please let me know.

Regards,

-THV


Search Strategy
graduation speech sunscreen
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References:
'Vonnegut Speech' Circulates on Net
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,5762,00.html

The Sunscreen Song
http://advergence.com/newspage/1999/19990620_sunscreensong.shtml

Urban Legends Reference Pages
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/vonnegut.htm

Baz Luhrmann

Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen