Gay Music

[Hylas]

i get irritated like how he plays his role to the rich catholic girls. his job (and i'm not judging, i've seen him do all these things) as a gay man is to dance to techno, compliment the girls on their outfits "oh my god, you look SO cute today", and talk about people behind their backs, stuff like how they're annoying or ugly or dress out of style.

 

LOL. Some people just fit in the stereotypes too well.

[colinian]

I would love to go see it. I've always loved tales of tragic love. Is it in French?

Yes, it was sung in French with English supertitles.

 

Colin

[FrenchCanadian]

Just listen to her sing...

 

http://www.mado.qc.ca

 

I know FrenchCanadian will recognize her.

 

Oh ya, I do recognize her. It's hard not to. I'm guessing that any gay in Quebec recognize her. she even was interviewed at more than one time on the news.

 

But I gotta admit, frosty, that I never went to that bar; I rarely go out in the village.

[AFriendlyFace]

I only briefly scanned this topic, so forgive me if I missed something, but I have to say I was very excited when I read the thread title "gay music" and then very disappointed when I read the thread and saw the direction the discussion had actually taken. Not because I don't think what people said was valuable, interesting, and entertaining, but simply because I was very much hoping this was going to be a thread that actually discussed gay music. As in music created by, for, and about gay people.

 

Well, I'm open-minded about the "by gay people" part since we have quite a few very talented straight writers who write gay literature. I'm also somewhat willing to be open-minded about "for gay people" since hopefully some others would get something out of it, but I think the music should definitely be about gay people to be considered "gay".

 

In other words a sappy love song about a man and a woman, no matter what genre, no matter how much gay people might like it, no matter how many straight people say: "that's so gay", is not gay music. A song about two women or two men in love is gay music. As may be a song about said people breaking up, making up, messing around, cheating on each other, or anything in between any of these. Similarly I suppose the song needn't be about two people at all. It could be about the feelings of one gay or lesbian person, or about the lives of many. However, the themes themselves need to be "gay" if the music is to be considered gay, IMO.

 

There are precious few actual gay songs to my knowledge. The ones that immediately leap to mind are:

 

by Jason and Demarco

 

by Dangerous Muse

 

Michael by Franz Ferdinand

 

All the Things She Said by Tatu

 

 

Regardless of of whether or not you actually like the song or videos, these are gay songs because they deal with same sex themes. Personally speaking, I somewhat like the song "This is Love" and I'm crazy about the video, conversely I don't care much for the video for "Michael" but I love the song. I love both the song and video for "The Rejection" and "All the Things She Said".

 

To give a little info that I know about each, Jason and Demarco are an actual gay couple who generally preform religious themed songs. "This Is Love" really is a song about their feelings for each other. My best friend actually met them once and he's promised me that he'll see if he can arrange another get together so that I can meet them.

 

"The Rejection" is 'a song about a boy who likes a girl who likes a girl who likes a boy who likes a boy'. Basically they're all the wrong orientation for each other and the song is about the inevitable rejection that ensues. To my understanding one of the two singers is gay and the other is bi, but I may be incorrect.

 

The members of Franz Ferdinand are all ostensibly straight, but there's been some rumours about the lead singer. The song itself is supposed to have been written about an actual guy they know.

 

"All the Things She said", which was a turning point for so many lesbians in my life, is a wonderful song about not caring what society thinks about you because you're in love. However, it now seems that the actual girls are straight and were never really dating, and that it was mostly a ploy by the music industry to tap into the fascination with lesbian and bisexual femme women. Nevertheless, I personally like the song, and think that it does present a good message.

 

I know I know of more actual "gay" songs, but I can't think of any off-hand. I'm excluding a few of the seemingly obvious camp favourites like "It's Raining Men" because it was (originally) performed by women and though it might resonate with a gay male, it was thus, IMO, presented to the public as a song about female lust.

 

So does anyone know of any other songs which are "gay" in the sense that they deal with gay and lesbian people, themes, and feelings?

 

Interesting thread,

Take care all,

Kevin

Edited January 19, 2008 by AFriendlyFace

[SonoLuminus]

So does anyone know of any other songs which are "gay" in the sense that they deal with gay and lesbian people, themes, and feelings?

 

Erasure- "Boy"

Andy Bell (Lead singer of Erasure)- "Caught In a Spin"

The Ark- "Father of a Son" and "The Others"

Bronski Beat- "Why?", "Smalltown Boy", "For A Friend"

 

Some other artists, although I can't think of specific songs: Pet Shop Boys, Soft Cell/Marc Almond, The Communards/Jimmy Somerville (he was also lead singer of Bronski Beat), Pansy Division (a gay punk band), Scissor Sisters.

 

Cover songs with a gay twist:

 

Erasure- "Walking In The Rain", "Gimme Gimme Gimme"

Mark Weigle "867-5309/Jimmy"

Jimmy Somerville & Marc Almond- "I Feel Love/Johnny Remember Me"

[scoopny]

One of my favorite artists is Rufus Wainwright and he does a great funny song called "Gay Messiah." It's quite funny and worth a listen.

[JamesSavik]

Oh how quickly they forget...

 

Remember the Cure? Boys Don't Cry, High, Lovesong...

 

 

Rush wrote a song called Afterimage about the loss of a friend to AIDS.

 

A number of mainstream bands have written songs that are supportive and/or gay friendly in their lyrics or tone.

 

 

I refuse to listen to "gay-only" muzak. If its good I'll listen. If its crap, I won't jump on the bandwagon simply because it is "gay music".

[Hylas]

I refuse to listen to "gay-only" muzak. If its good I'll listen. If its crap, I won't jump on the bandwagon simply because it is "gay music".

 

Me too

 

Take note that definition of 'crap' varies from person to person though. LOL. I hate the campy disco techno that most people associate with gay bars.

 

I already mentioned it, but just so you'd see what I mean, here's the lyrics to The Ditty Bops - There's A Girl. It's a bluegrass/indie song.

 

I also like country quite a bit. Heh. Found about Marc Weigle. His songs are more about the bear culture.

 

And hey....

 

check out this site...

 

http://www.lovegodsway.org/GayBands <- HATE SITE

 

You can get a good list of bands there. But that site makes me so ^&%#^&@#%@& MAD!!!

 

Please hack it. Oh f*ck. They look so goddamn smug.

[colinian]

So does anyone know of any other songs which are "gay" in the sense that they deal with gay and lesbian people, themes, and feelings?

Yes:

 

Chumbawamba

- Homophobia

- A Love That Dare Not Speak It's Name (Hidden Track on A Singsong and a Scrap)

 

Colin

[Tiger]

Several of Melissa Ethridge's songs deal with at least the female side of being gay, most notably "Silent Legacy" and "Come to my Window".

[SonoLuminus]

Erasure- "Boy"

 

I can't believe I forgot the first and most obvious one - the coming out anthem "Hideaway".