Gay anthem
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A gay anthem or LGBT anthem is a song that has become widely popular among, or has become identified with, the LGBT community; usually with gay men. The lyrics of gay anthems are often marked with hope against the odds, pride, unity, or defiance. Colloquially, gay anthems are called "gaynthems."
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[edit] Themes
Although every song is individual, the criteria for what makes a gay anthem does show a pattern among the songs. IN the book, Queer the following ten main themes were listed that are common among many, if not all gay anthems.[1]
- Big voiced divas: Rather than particular song, this area of gay anthems is more akin to a cult of personality of a large gay male following for some particular diva-style pop music vocalists who are almost always female gay icons. Examples include: Patti LaBelle, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Gloria Gaynor, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minogue, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Donna Summer, and Cher.
- Overcoming hardship in love: Usually a narrative of a wronged lover who comes back stronger than before. Examples include, I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor and No More Tears (Enough is Enough) by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer.
- You are not alone: Songs about coming together as a community or reassurance to the lonely that there are others like them out there. Examples include, We Are Family by Sister Sledge, YMCA by The Village People, and Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin.
- Throw your cares away: A carefree narrative about putting your troubles asides and partying. Examples include, Turn the Beat Around by Vicki Sue Robinson, Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, and Holiday by Madonna.
- Hard-won self esteem Here the themes involves fighting through oppression, darkness or fear to gain freedom, beauty or self esteem. Examples include, Free by Ultra Nate, Supermodel by RuPaul, and The Greatest Love of All]] by Whitney Houston.
- Celebrating unashamed sexuality: The theme here is of transcending cultural shame to celebrate one's sexual nature. Examples include, So Many Men, So Little Time by Miquel Brown, See You Again by Miley Cyrus, and It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls.
- Search for acceptance: Songs about a welcoming promised land where the dream of acceptance and belonging and hope lives. Examples include, Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland and There's a Place for Us from the musical West Side Story.
- Torch song for the world weary: A narrative about being used, abused and surviving to tell the tale of lament. Examples include: Maybe This Time by Liza Minelli, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Dusty Springfield, and And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going by Jennifer Holliday.
- Love conquers the all: Tales of not giving up on love despite seemingly insurmountable odds. Examples include Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Diana Ross and As Long as He Needs Me by Shirley Bassey.
- No apologies: Here the theme revolves around defiantly living one's life despite what others may want. Examples include, I Am What I Am by Gloria Gaynor and I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross.
Some Eurovision Song Contest songs become gay anthems such as the Eurovision 1998 winning song "Diva" by transsexual Israeli Dana International, Croatian 1999 entry "Marija Magdalena" by Doris Dragović and Danish 2007 entry "Drama Queen" by drag DQ. Eurovision 2006 hopefuls drag Queentastic's "Absolutely Fabulous" is also a case in point. Claudette Pace who represented Malta in 2000 issued a gay-anthem entitled "Power of Pink". She performed it at the UK's Gay Pride in 2001.
Less common, but still notable, are gay garage rock, punk and hardcore anthems, including songs by artists such as Jayne County such as "Man Enough To be A Woman", t.A.T.u.'s "All the Things She Said", Buzzcocks' "Orgasm Addict", "Ti Voglio Bene" by Italian star Tiziano Ferro, a number of singles by Pansy Division and songs by Team Dresch and Tribe 8. (See also Queercore). A new gay anthem is Heather Small and her performance of "Proud", released in the Proud album in 2000, and featured in the Showtime original show Queer As Folk. Latin examples are "¿A Quién le Importa?" by Alaska y Dinarama and "Todos Me Miran" by Gloria Trevi.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Simon Gage, Lisa Richards, and Howard Wilmot. Queer, pp. 26-7. June 13, 2002. ISBN 1560253770
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
- Gay Anthems (Book & CD). Music Sales Ltd. ISBN 071199742X
- Leila J. Rupp, Verta Taylor. Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret. University Of Chicago Press, May 15, 2003. ISBN 0226731588
