Baz Luhrmann - "Everybody’s Free (To..."

Yes, there is a promo CD for this one:

DPRO 7087 6 13560 2 1
1. Edit (5:06)
2. Album Version (7:08)
3. Sunscreen (Geographic's Factor 15+ Mix) (4:42)

I also have an import CD single, which lists the song title on the spine and cover as "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) The Sunscreen Song (Class of '99)." The track list itself, though, does not mention the second part of the title. Tracks 1 & 2 are the same listed versions and times as tracks 1 & 3 on the promo CD.

Both the promo CD single and the import CD single include the line "Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99" at the beginning. If you listen very, very carefully, it sounds like "ninety-nine" was dubbed in. What I didn't realize until today is that there is an earlier (original?) version that opens with the same line but instead says "class of '97."

Edited by aaronk

There was definitely a "97" version. From what I recall, this "song" started
as an op-ed in a newspaper (I believe the Chicago Tribune) in 1997,
written by somebody who felt challenged to write a mock graduation
speech. It went viral (by 1997 standards). I believe it was passed around
as an email forward and falsely attributed to all sorts of prominent people
(I don't believe the newspaper editor who authored it was anyone of note),
before being noticed by the movie producer Baz Luhrmann. Luhrmann
liked it and had somebody narrate it for release. The original version,
which may have only been distributed overseas, said "97."

I don't know the story behind why it was re-released in 1999, but I
presume it may have been as simple as somebody heard the original,
liked it, and convinced Luhrmann to update it for release as a US single.
Not sure if the "97" version is on any US issued CD (I doubt it) but I would
bet quite a bit it is on a foreign release.

Back2TheFuture wrote: Now, just to throw more confusion into this song, when my youngest brother (now 36) graduated high school in 1998, I remember hearing a version they played at his high school graduation ceremony that said "Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of '98, wear sunscreen etc."   Till this day, my younger brother has been looking for the '98 version.

Since you only ever heard it at his graduation ceremony, is it possible that
someone with a similar voice dubbed in the opening line? This line is said
with no music behind it, so it would be fairly easy to do.

aaronk wrote: Since you only ever heard it at his graduation ceremony, is it possible that someone with a similar voice dubbed in the opening line? This line is said with no music behind it, so it would be fairly easy to do.

Locally, they also played that same '98 version on the radio from April 98 to about July '98. I don't know however if it was custom made by the local top 40 station or if it actually exists on a promo CD somewhere. I e-mailed the ex-program director at the time earlier for more details about this '98 version. I'll post the findings as soon as I get word from him.

Edited by Back2TheFuture

The 5:05 on the promo single is lossy. Anyone know of any source where it is lossless? Other than the first 20 seconds the peak is at 15 on the spectrum in a straight line...