What Makes a Gay Song?

[ccharles000]

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1816760,00.html

Can a song be gay?

It's a question that doesn't have an easy answer, but it's sure fun to try to puzzle out. And the True Colors tour that has been traveling across America this month would seem to be a good place to do that.

The tour, founded by Cyndi Lauper last year, is highly unusual in that its main purpose, besides entertaining crowds, is to rally for gay, lesbian and transgender rights. The tour features a diverse cast of performers — including the B-52s, Tegan and Sara, the Indigo Girls, Rosie O'Donnell and Regina Spektor — onstage for nearly five hours.

There's never really been this kind of organized gay-themed tour before, and its very existence, during what many urban crusaders consider a postgay era — a "whatever" age in which identity politics are on the wane — seems quaint and comforting. When the Indigo Girls hit the stage for True Colors at Radio City Music Hall recently, their set of barnstorming folk brought back warm memories of early 1990s pink-triangle-bedecked marches, a period when the movement seemed in overdrive.

But is their music gay? Folk music itself is a political form and deeply entrenched in the 1970s lesbian-power movement. The Indigo Girls themselves are two gay ladies. But their songs rarely touch on gay topics. The Indigo Girls are not known for explicit anthems or same-gendered love songs. Yet so much about an Indigo Girls show is very gay.

[mitchtv]

1. I just keep thinking of "Lola" by the Kinks

gay as can be

[MercutioATC]

2. More transexual than gay.

[soothsayer]

8. more transvestite than transexual

[MercutioATC]

9. Yeah, you're right.

[Lithos]

3. Interesting

Is it the show or the music?

What makes the Indigo Girls' show "very gay" when they lack gay-themed lyrics and the Kink's with the GLBT Lola as not "very gay". I think it's the show, but even that seems hard to define.

BTW, great lineup of musicians.

[dickthegrouch]

4. Romanovsky and Philips

Sadly they are no longer writing songs together, but these two guys wrote songs from all over the gay experience map during the 80's and 90's.
Their website is website and under the discography section you'll find the words to most of the songs.
"If there's a god, he's a queen" is a classic
"Red Moon Over Boston" my favorite
Most of the CD's are still available.
HIGHLY recommended.

[Rhythm]

15. I saw them back in the late '80s in Charlotte NC

They did a show at the UU Church, and they were fantastic.

There are times when i still get one of their tunes as an earworm...

[DarkTirade]

5. I'd say this is probably the gayest song I've ever heard...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayZGZ2NSxs4

[galledgoblin]

6. On Raglan Road

a painful enough song with a man singing, but with a woman, another layer of heartbreak is added that just tears your chest apart.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-raglan-road/

[newmajority]

7. Aren't these guys considered the "gayest" group ever?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqPn-kuGOjQ

[qb]

10. Robert German sings gay songs.

He sings about his relationships and sexuality.

http://www.robertgerman.com/

[JackBeck]

21. I am so happy you mentioned him.

Robert and I go way back. He was one of my regulars when I bartended in Brooklyn.

I'll never forget the one night when it was slow and he asked if it was OK if he went and grabbed his guitar to try out a few songs for us. I had never heard him sing before, let alone knew he played the guitar. He totally blew me away.

[LeftHander]

11. Any song a Drag Queen will perform to...

Come on people...you know the "ladies" set the music standards.

Don't make them slap you up either.

lol

[canis_lupus]

12. Interesting question

And odd that the article would mention folk music. While my peers were listening to Led Zeplin, Black Sabbath and the other "rock" groups of the late '60s and early '70s, I was in my room with Joan Baez, Judy Colins and Simon and Garfunkle on my stereo. There was just more in folk music that I could relate to.

Then along came Elton John and I picked up on the "musical gaydar" in his lyrics way before my straight friends (even if he did cop out and sing about "Daniel, my brother ..." instead of making it more explicit).

I think a lot of gay and lesbian artists have a way of signalling their LGBT fans about a homoerotic undersurrent in their songs even before they come out. Take Melissa Ethridge, for example. In her early albums she played pretty coy with pronouns. I picked up on that almost unconsciously and despite some songs on her "Brave and Crazy" album that specifically used he, I viewed her as a lesbian artist before she came out.

[Iggo]

20. Hmm...

...the pic I posted didn't take. Which took all the umph out of my post.

Ah well...

[Occulus]

13. What makes a "gay song" gay?

This, maybe?

Listen, Roger: did you get a chance yet to read Springtime for Hitler?
ROGER:
Read it? I devoured it! I for one, for instance, never realized that the Third Reich meant Germany.
MAX:
Yeah, how 'bout that? Then you'll do it?
ROGER:
Do it? Of course not.
The theatre's so obsessed
With dramas so depressed
It's hard to sell a ticket on Broadway
Shows should be more pretty
Shows should be more witty
Shows should be more...
What's the word?
LEO:
Gay?
ROGER:
Exactly!
No matter what you do on the stage
Keep it light, keep it bright, keep it gay!
Whether it's murder, mayhem or rage
Don't complain, it's a pain
Keep it gay!
CARMEN:
People want laughter when they see a show
The last thing they're after's a litany of woe
ROGER & CARMEN:
A happy ending will pep up your play...
ROGER:
Oedipus won't bomb...
CARMEN:
If he winds up with Mom!
Keep it gay!
ROGER:
Keep it gay...
ROGER & CARMEN:
Keep it gay!
MAX:
Couldn't agree with you more. And you have our blessings, Roger,
to make Springtime for Hitler just as gay as anyone could possibly want.
So, c'mon, do it for us, please.
ROGER:
No, sorry, Max, but it's simply not my cup of tea.
Still, fair is fair, perhaps I should ask my production team what they think.
This is my set designer, Bryan.
BRYAN:
Keep it glad, keep it mad, keep it gay!
ROGER:
And here's my costume designer, Kevin.
KEVIN:
Hello...
Keep it happy, keep it snappy, keep it gay!
BRYAN & KEVIN:
We're clever, creative
It's our job to see
That ev'rything's perfect for Mr. De Bris!
ROGER:
Next, Scott, my choreographer...
SCOTT:
Hi there...
ROGER:
And, ah, finally, last and least, my lighting designer, Shirley Markowitz.
SHIRLEY:
Keep it gay, keep it gay, keep it gay
LEO:
I don't think we're getting to them, Max. What do we do now?
MAX:
Watch this. Roger, listen. I think that Springtime for Hitler
would be a marvelous opportunity for you. I mean, up to now,
you've always been associated with frivolous musicals.
ROGER:
You're right. I've often felt as though I've been throwing my life away
on silly little entertainments. Deopy showgirls in gooey gowns.
Two-three-kick-turn! Turn-turn-kick-turn!
CARMEN:
Oh, Roger.
ROGER:
It's enough to make you heave. Nonetheless, sorry, Max.
I just couldn't do Springtime for Hitler
MAX:
Why not? Think of the prestige.
ROGER:
No.
MAX:
Think of the respect.
ROGER:
No, no, no.
MAX:
Think of ... the Tony!
CARMEN & THE TEAM:
Tony...Tony...Tony...Tony...Tony!
ROGER:
Ngaaaaaahhhhh!
MAX:
What's the matter?
LEO:
Is he all right?
CARMEN:
He's having a stroke...
MAX & LEO:
What?
CARMEN:
...of genius!
ROGER:
I see it! I see it! At last. The chance to do something important!
CARMEN:
Roger de Bris presents History!
ROGER:
Of course that whole second act has to be rewritten. They're losing the war? Excuse me. It's too downbeat.
CARMEN:
Roger de Bris presents History!
ROGER:
But maybe...it's a wile idea, but it just might work...
I see a line of beautiful girls
Dressed as storm troopers, each one a gem
With leather boots and whips on their hips
It's risque, dare I say, S & M!
CARMEN & THE TEAM:
Love it!
ROGER:
I see German soldiers dancing through France
Played by chorus boys in very tight pants
And wait, there's more - they win the war!
And the dances they do will be daring and new
Turn-turn-kick-turn, turn-turn-kick-turn
One-two-three-kick-turn!
Keep it sassy, keep it classy, keep it...
MAX:
That is brilliant. Brilliant! Roger, I speak for Mr. Bloom and myself
when I sawy that you are the only man in the world who can do justice
to Springtime for Hitler. Will you do it, please?
LEO:
Please.
ROGER:
Wait a minute. This is a very big decision. It might effect the course of my entire life.
I shall have to think about it...I'll do it. I'll do it!
Sabu, champagne!
ROGER, CARMEN & THE TEAM:
If at the end you want them to cheer
Keep it gay, keep it gay, keep it gay
Whether it's Hamlet, Othello or Lear
Keep it gay, keep it gay, keep it gay
CARMEN:
Comedy's joyous, a constant delight
Dramas annoy us...
ROGER & CARMEN:
...and ruin our night.
ROGER, CARMEN & THE TEAM:
So keep your Strindbergs and Ibsens at bay...
ROGER:
I'll sign...
KEVIN:
Sign...
BRYAN:
Sign...
SCOTT:
Sign...
CARMEN:
Sign...
SHIRLEY:
Sign...
MAX & LEO:
Sign...
ROGER:
Roger Elizabeth De Bris!
ALL:
Keep it gay!!

:silly:

:D

[urbuddha]

14. Jump Shout by Lisa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h32EK0MXLbk

I survived poppers and the 80's !

[Rhythm]

16. Here's one that can't be mistaken

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V76u_ho4ay8

They played this at the 'teen' dance club where my friends and i hung out most weekends, because we were too young to get into the REAL gay bars. The DJ's were the same, though, and just rotated as to who was working where on what nights. *L*

[Toasterlad]

17. Any Song That's Sexually Attracted to Other Songs of the Same Gender is Gay.

[Democrats_win]

18. It's hard to tell. One songbook: "Songs of the Gay Nineties" may not be gay.

The gay 90s refers to the 1890s.

Songs included:


Yellow Rose of Texas
And the Band Played On
Bicycle Built for Two
Daisy Bell
Down in a Coal Mine
Down Went McGinty
Dreaming
Frankie and Johnny
Hail! The Gang's All Here
Hand Me Down my Walking Cane
Hello Ma Baby
Home on the Range
Home Sweet Home
http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/colbas/10663_6.shtml

[Casper11]

19. gay song

what an idiotic article