[ConservativeStatement]

I think they were trying to mimic the comments of a hardworking guy who was doing manual labor for little pay. That person then saw a musician, ridiculed him for wearing makeup, but the end result was that the singer was a millionaire.

[raccoonradio]

Similarly people misinterpret Randy Newman’s “Short People”,
in which he _portrays_ a bigot who feels that “short people got no reason to live”. The key is in the middle:

Backing singers: Short people are just the same as you and I
Randy: The fools such as I

So he’s portraying someone, it isn’t literal. Also I can think of two songs sung by women who are “portraying” men:
Joan Baez version of The Night They Drove Ol Dixie Down,
and Cher’s You Better Sit Down Kids