Who would have thought a mock graduation speech published in a newspaper column almost two years ago would turn into one of the most requested songs on alternative radio stations?

"To be honest, I would say it's the most requested song in my career," says Bob Waugh, a midday jockey at Landover-based 99.1 WHFS.

"Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)" -- a witty, down-to-earth song that sounds like a poem being read in unison with funky, hip-hop music -- has struck a chord with its simple message on how to live.

The message may be simple but its history is not.

The words were written by Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, writer of the "Brenda Starr" comic strip for 12 years, and first appeared in her column June 1, 1997. Schmich, who has been working at the Tribune since 1992, said she was inspired to write the "Wear Sunscreen" speech one day in May after she saw a young woman basking in the sun and thought: "I hope that woman's wearing sunscreen." Energized by M&Ms; and coffee, she began to write the graduation speech she would deliver if anyone ever asked her.

Two months after the column appeared, the "Sunscreen Speech" was thrust into cyberspace, where it was somehow attributed to Kurt Vonnegut. It was on the 'Net that a colleague of Australian film director Baz Luhrmann discovered the speech and flagged it to Luhrmann, who was recording an album of remixes of songs from his film and opera productions, such as "Strictly Ballroom" and "Romeo and Juliet."

Luhrmann traced the speech back to Schmich, and got permission from the Chicago Tribune to use her words in a remix of the 1980s dance classic "Everybody's Free," sung by Quindon Tarver.

Luhrmann's CD, "Something for Everyone," was a big hit that October '97 in Australia. It was released in the States last spring by Capitol Records, then picked up by a radio station in Santa Monica, Calif. At first, the song received little interest elsewhere -- it was seven minutes long, which limited playing time on most stations.

But at the end of last summer, KNRK, a station in Portland, Ore., cut the song to four and a half minutes, and it spread. According to Mark Hamilton, KNRK program director, a station can cut a song or add to it without getting permission from anyone.

WHFS has been playing the song for about two months, and listeners ask to hear the proverbial message again and again.

"It's a pretty universal message with a fair amount of wisdom," says Waugh. "I think it's cool to have a song that reacts with people. Radio can be like wallpaper. This song is cutting through."

Baltimore radio station B102.7 WXYV, which plays contemporary music, aired the song for the first time two weeks ago. Music director Albie Dee said most people who called in said they really liked it.

Will Fannin, a sales associate at Record and Tape Traders in Bel Air, said he sells at least three CDs a day, "and that's on a bad day." And The Wall in Towson Town Center is selling up to 10 a week, said Richard Stabler, second assistant.

Schmich is amused by the hoopla. "It is rare for those of us who write to have such widespread exposure and response," she said. "It speaks to the capricious nature of what really gets widespread exposure."

So what is the message?

Schmich says the overall interpretation many people have given it, "to put it in a trite way," is that everything is going to be OK.

"There are some conscious acts that you need to make in your life for everything to be OK," she says, "the small, everyday kinds of things."

Such as: "Sing," "stretch," "floss," "get plenty of calcium" and "be kind to your knees." "Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth." "Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements."

And, "Do one thing everyday that scares you." For Schmich, sometimes that's just the prospect of writing her column or talking to someone she doesn't know or doesn't particularly like.

"Many people have said to me it's the 'Desiderata' of the '90s," says Schmich, who can't recall much of the poem that was an inspiration for college students in the '60s and '70s, when she was a teen.

The origin of "Desiderata" also confused some people at first. The poem was originally thought to have been found in Old Saint Paul's Church in Baltimore in 1692, and was thus referred to as the "Baltimore Prayer." Further investigation revealed that the true author was Max Ehrmann, a poet, author and lawyer from Indiana, who wrote the piece in 1927.

"Desiderata" advises: "If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."

Or, as Schmich counsels: "Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end it's only with yourself."

'Desiderata' of the '90s

Back in the '60s and '70s, a text called the "Desiderata," written in 1927 by an Indiana lawyer, was the rage with college students. Today it's the "Sunscreen Speech," written in 1997 by an Illinois newspaper columnist:

"Desiderata" begins: "Go placidly among the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence."

"Sunscreen" begins: "Ladies and gentleman, wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it."

Desiderata: "Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass."

Sunscreen: "Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours."

Desiderata: "Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth."

Sunscreen: "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."

To Hear the song

To hear a sampling of the song "Everybody's Free )to Wear Sunscreen)," go to The Sun's Web site, SunSpot, at www.sunspot,net/features. Pub Date: 3/29/99