Adam Ant, Ultimate Role Model

Adam Ant is one of the coolest things to come out of the 80s. Not only did he have a wonderful sense of dramatic fashion (excessively trimmed military jackets, tall boots, ruffly poet's shirts, and more!), which is enough to make him a role model for me, he also had a number of songs with wonderful messages. From
"No method to our madness, just pride about our manner" to
"It's so sad, when you're young, to be told you're having fun" to
"Prince Charming, Prince Charming, Ridicule is nothing to be scared of. Don't you ever, don't you ever stop being dandy, showing me you're handsome." Now those are words to live by. Dramatic, romantic, completely over the top words to live by. My very favorite kind!

I was listening to Adam Ant a few weeks ago, and I made a comment about what a good role model he would make. I mean, he is quite obviously a cool guy, and the messages in so many of his songs are about being your own person, not caring about what others think of you, etc etc etc... the sort of things teachers and parents are always trying to teach children. At least, I think that's why I brought up the role model thing... as a personal role model his impeccable use of poet's shirts might really be sufficient.

My little sister's reaction was that she had once seen a television special on him, and he had, "gotten arrested for throwing some kind of fit. He was dressed as a pirate."

My reaction was that getting arrested does not rule you out as a role model, as long as you do it dressed like a pirate!

Anyway, here is his very best video, for the song Stand and Deliver. I honestly could not tell you whether the lyrics or costumes make me happier, so take a little time to appreciate both. This is why Adam Ant is my hero. If you like this, consider also looking up the music videos for Puss in Boots (a fantastic specimen of the poet's shirt, with quite a lot of plot going for it) and Room at the Top (hilarious women from various historical time periods, in various levels of undress), or any others really. If Adam Ant did it, it is probably fantastic.