Would you buy songs about men in love with other men
I'm not really sure if this has been done in music. Obviously, George Michael has pushed the envelope a little with some of his material but I have yet to hear a popular song about a man being in love with another man. Isn't it time this happens considering it's 2010 and gay activism started in the late 1960's. Would you be repulsed to hear Joe McElderry sing about how he enjoys making love to a stocky, rugby player? Or would you consider it not a problem and judge the track for on its merits? :
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I couldn't listen to it, but then i'm inherantly prejudiced against rugby players.
Seriously though, no, in the grand scheme of things, no, if a song is good i'll happily listen to it. No one had an issue with Amy winehouse singing valerie, without changing the lyrics so yeh, bit of a non issue these days.
The song your describing about enjoying making love to a stocky rugby player sounds a bt repulsive, but I would feel that way if it were sung by a man or woman.
A great musician who has fronted two great bands in Sugar and Hüsker Dü.
I think it's time for gay artists to be a bit braver and express their sexuality through music. It's a big part of their lives after all.
John Grant's album is a great example as well. Explicit and unsettling at times but probably all the more beautiful for it.
Alongside these you have songs by Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy, Hidden Cameras, The Veils... there are tons of examples, to be honest.
It was written while they were together.
I was going to bring up Morrissey as well. Queen are another band that used gay material and sold humungeously.
I mean, would it really cause that much of a stir to simply to use 'he' instead of 'she' etc.? Would people even notice if the song was good enough?
There would probably be a bigger stir if a (popular) male singer was getting more detailed about another guy, like in a sexy way.
But those taboo's aren't going to get broken down anytime soon if these gay singers (of which there are plenty) don't push them. Whilst I can appreciate some are uber controlled and others are probably shit scared of damaging their career - there's still an element of 'man up'. Literally. You're gay, we know you're gay...if you continue having success despite that then there's a logical step to take.
I think there's a distinct lack of sexualised gay men in the media, in general. The gay image has had to be toned down to counteract the overly sexualised (and therefore demonised) image they had before. It's all inoffensive Gok Wan's, Alan Carr's, Joe McElderry's, Stephen Fry's etc. We need a bad ass gay to tackle the boundaries.
Why is it any more difficult?
I wonder which was the very first?
*Still pondering* "Lola" was about a transvestite they say....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVXmMMSo47s
The funny thing about this is that if it is about women, it would not seen as controversial.
For example, if you take the song Katy's "I Kiss A Girl" and change it to "I Kiss A Guy" it would not be a hit at all.
its like if a female singer like Beth Gibbons sings a love song i'd still be able to relate to it.. just like you'll hear females singing along to Robbie Williams "Angels" or something and change the words to "he offers me protection"
Same sex material is pouring into music videos now so I don't see why not. Katy Perry's video for Firework and Pink's video for Raise Your Glass both have 2 men kissing in them, so if they can do that I don't see why people should complain about a guy singing about a guy or a girl and a girl. A lot of time people just disregard the lyrics and go with the beat.