If the name Baz Luhrmann sounds familiar and you're not a film buff, it's probably because he released "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)," a late-'90s song that's almost universally referred to as "The Sunscreen Song."

Luhrmann has, of course, quite a storied career in film. In addition to directing "Moulin Rouge" and "Romeo+Juliet," he's also the man responsible for the new adaptation of "The Great Gatsby," which lands in theaters (in 3-D) on May 10.

It's the story of the "Sunscreen Song," however, that's most curious. At the time, the speech that became the basis for the track was attributed to Kurt Vonnegut. Luhrmann's team found out that it was actually written by a journalist, Mary Schmich. Schmich was a fan of Luhrrman's movies, clearing the way for him to have a Sydney-based actor record the speech. "What I think is extraordinary, apart from the inherent values in the ideas,...