Initially, I wanted to post about Le Tigre's Deceptacon but there were already a bunch of posts about queercore stuff, so I'll just leave you with the video in all its face-melting glory.
As a way of coping with this dilemma, I immediately turned to the Muppets. At this point I realized that there was a huge song that I failed to realize was highly significant to modern America - Kermit's (It's Not Easy) Bein' Green.
Written by Joe Raposo (who also wrote the Sesame Street theme song) as an anthem for Kermit the Frog, the song present a humble, sweet message about the insecurities of wearing one's skin all of the time and, ultimately, the recognition of one's self-worth as being just the way they are in the grand scheme of things. Aptly, the song was presented on Sesame Street and sung by Kermit himself and quickly became a hit; even a standard to some extent, with covers by Van Morrison, Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra, and even a duet with Kermit and Ray Charles (not for the faint of heart though - it will make you weep).
Additionally, the song was appropriated as something of a mantra/anthem for environmentalism. While the clear purpose of the song is to accept and love who you are in this world, its mentioning of being green like trees and plants and oceans also indicates a bigger recognition of how the world at large should be celebrated just as much as yourself - under that guise, it's easy to claim a connection to protecting that celebration.
A glimpse at the Wikipedia article on the song presents how influential the song has been in pop culture, namely its titular verse. What stands out to me is the fact that in the midst of the tumult of the 1970's, this song managed (and still manages to) provide a well-needed sense of comfort and togetherness for people of all types, moving with versatile tact from one generation to the next.
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