Now here's another bundle of memories, chief of which is remembering some older boys asking me if I was gay in 1979 and my innocent reply of 'yes I'm feeling happy' causing no end of hilarity amongst them. You see, I had no idea what 'gay' meant or that it was regarded as an insult in my neck of the woods. At age ten I only had the vaguest idea of what heterosexual sex was so anything else was well off my radar. By the time the year was out though, the 'joke' didn't work anymore; everybody knew what 'gay' meant in the sexual sense and I think that little enlightenment can be put down to the success of the Village People, one of the first acts to openly acknowledge the gay community by dressing in outlandishly stereotypical gay fantasy persona and performing music that only hid its message behind the flimsiest of metaphorical curtains.
As far as signature tunes go, they don't come much more signatory than 'YMCA'. Essentially an upfront message of pride that encourages the waverers to embrace their sexuality ("young man, what do you wanna be"?) it's nevertheless a conservatively insular recording in that it recommends the 'young men' (women are not welcome it seems) to go where similar minded people can be found - the YMCA *- rather than pushing for universal tolerance for homosexuality. But as lyric writer Victor Willis (the 'cop' in the line-up) was heterosexual and only tapping into the gay market with 'YMCA', maybe he thought that was more than he'd be able to get away with.
Upbeat and in your face it might be, but I find it difficult to listen to 'YMCA' in these terms as through benefit of hindsight I know that in a few short years the light of carefree optimism would be dulled with the emergence of intolerant right wing governments on both side of the Atlantic and the arrival of AIDS. To that extent, listening to 'YMCA' is like looking at photographs of you and a mate on a night out when you knew he was killed by a drunk driver on the way home.
'YMCA' can still be taken on face value as fancy dress disco with pantomime mimes to spell out the letters with all subtext removed and that's fine. In fact, I've known gay people who bitterly resent the Village People as insulting panderers of faux macho/comic stereotypes to the straight world and are far happier to see 'YMCA' as nothing more than a grown up version of a child's school dancing game. On that level (and in truth it's the only level I'm 'qualified' to comment on) the song still holds up remarkable well for what is basically a tune disco by rote.
A chunky, horn led affair, 'YMCA' is carried along mainly by the vocal and a repeated 'Young man' exclamation until you're essentially dancing to the words rather than the beat. And despite the intended 'young man' audience and shorn of any sexual politics, 'YMCA' still carries a universal appeal in its simplicity and sheer good cheer that can still pack any dancefloor (pretentious white suits are not required here) as soon as the opening brass riff starts up - it's fun to stay at the (deep breath) WIIII - EMMM - SEEEE - AYYYY, but it's bloody good fun to dance to it too.
* According to Wikipedia, the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) was a popular cruising and hook-up spot, particularly for young gay men. I can only take this at face value, but I do remember my delight at finding out shortly after this hit number one that my hometown had its own YMCA. My delight turned to disappointment when I went along there out of curiosity - it looked a rather drab, run down affair with gangs of teens drinking cheap cider outside, none of whom were dressed as cowboys or Indian chiefs. Oh the innocence.....
As far as signature tunes go, they don't come much more signatory than 'YMCA'. Essentially an upfront message of pride that encourages the waverers to embrace their sexuality ("young man, what do you wanna be"?) it's nevertheless a conservatively insular recording in that it recommends the 'young men' (women are not welcome it seems) to go where similar minded people can be found - the YMCA *- rather than pushing for universal tolerance for homosexuality. But as lyric writer Victor Willis (the 'cop' in the line-up) was heterosexual and only tapping into the gay market with 'YMCA', maybe he thought that was more than he'd be able to get away with.
Upbeat and in your face it might be, but I find it difficult to listen to 'YMCA' in these terms as through benefit of hindsight I know that in a few short years the light of carefree optimism would be dulled with the emergence of intolerant right wing governments on both side of the Atlantic and the arrival of AIDS. To that extent, listening to 'YMCA' is like looking at photographs of you and a mate on a night out when you knew he was killed by a drunk driver on the way home.
'YMCA' can still be taken on face value as fancy dress disco with pantomime mimes to spell out the letters with all subtext removed and that's fine. In fact, I've known gay people who bitterly resent the Village People as insulting panderers of faux macho/comic stereotypes to the straight world and are far happier to see 'YMCA' as nothing more than a grown up version of a child's school dancing game. On that level (and in truth it's the only level I'm 'qualified' to comment on) the song still holds up remarkable well for what is basically a tune disco by rote.
A chunky, horn led affair, 'YMCA' is carried along mainly by the vocal and a repeated 'Young man' exclamation until you're essentially dancing to the words rather than the beat. And despite the intended 'young man' audience and shorn of any sexual politics, 'YMCA' still carries a universal appeal in its simplicity and sheer good cheer that can still pack any dancefloor (pretentious white suits are not required here) as soon as the opening brass riff starts up - it's fun to stay at the (deep breath) WIIII - EMMM - SEEEE - AYYYY, but it's bloody good fun to dance to it too.
* According to Wikipedia, the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) was a popular cruising and hook-up spot, particularly for young gay men. I can only take this at face value, but I do remember my delight at finding out shortly after this hit number one that my hometown had its own YMCA. My delight turned to disappointment when I went along there out of curiosity - it looked a rather drab, run down affair with gangs of teens drinking cheap cider outside, none of whom were dressed as cowboys or Indian chiefs. Oh the innocence.....
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