This month, all my A to Z Challenge posts will feature a song that is on my personal list of “deep cuts.” These are songs that my husband often razzes me about, that there’s no one else who has ever heard of them or is listening to them, or they’re songs that possibly are just not that mainstream. If we are of the same era or run in the same musical taste circles, none of these may seem that off the beaten path, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun songs! Enjoy!

Being an ’80s girl, of course I love my hair bands! I consider myself an incredibly average fan of the band White Lion. Of course, I loved “Wait”, which was the song that really allowed them to blow up in popularity. And If I am being honest, I played along with loving “When the Children Cry” even though I really thought the song was kind of meh. But where I really found my sweet spot with White Lion was with the song I am sharing today, “Little Fighter.”

When I first heard the song, I thought it was a tribute to a really tough girl, one who had had heartbreak and hard times and just never, ever gave up despite all the odds always being stacked against her. Some lines in the song didn’t fit with that narrative — “Even when they put a price on your head,” “You were always alone out on the sea,” “Without a weapon in your hand, you came to fight a war.” I just chalked it up to White Lion using poetic license. I thought the song had a tad of a romantic feel to it, and I liked the idea of this warrior woman.

Then I learned the truth.

I read the liner notes (remember liner notes???? God, how I loved reading them!) and learned that the song wasn’t at all about a person but rather a boat. Greenpeace’s ship The Rainbow Warrior. This ship was used to go after so many people wreaking environmental havoc, all with no weapons on board the ship. At first, I thought it was a bit corny to write a song about a boat, but then I thought it was actually a beautiful tribute to the a symbol of the work done by Greenpeace and I thought it was quite poignant.

So let me know what you think — do you like the song? Does it ruin the song knowing it’s about a boat? Is it weird?