The Truth Is Revealed! A Grateful Nation Heaves Collective Sigh
We all grew up thinking it was about one thing, the story giggled over as it was passed around the musical campfire across the decades. Well, folks, the lead singer of The Village People, the only straight member, the one dressed up as a traffic cop, has stepped up the internet and typed out an explanation.
It was a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in black leather and wearing feathers and blowing a whistle. Now, no longer will the lyrics of "Y.M.C.A." be misconstrued. America can rest easy.
Our long national nightmare is, indeed, over.
There's been a lot of talk recently about "Y.M.C.A.." being a Gay song/Gay anthem as well as its planned use at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Well, I wrote the lyrics, and this is recent news to me that YMCA is a gay anthem. As I have stated before, the song is universal and not specific to Gays. However, I think it's perfectly OK for Gays to think the song is about them. But it is not.
The bottom line is, at the time I wrote the lyrics, I knew nothing about Gays hanging out at the YMCA for sex. So I could only write about what I knew about the YMCA, as being a placed where young urban youths like me hung out for basketball, swimming (hanging out with all the boys) and finding a cheap place to stay when you're down on your luck.
That's what I knew about the YMCA, so that's what I wrote the lyrics about. I think many are mixing up the fact that 99% of the Village People are gay and that our first album (not written by me) was in fact about Gay life.
Here too, I had never heard about Fire Island and did not discover until months after recording the song that it was about a Gay hangout (I was pissed). And told Jacques Morali that I would would be writing my own songs from that point on, and I did.
I will continue setting the record straight (no pun intended)"
Amen.
Now about "In The Navy"...
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