Victor Willis, a member of the famed pop group The Village People, has something he wants you to know: contrary to popular belief, the song is not about gay men hooking up at the Y.M.C.A.
“NOTICE ABOUT Y.M.C.A,” Willis wrote on Facebook. “News and Twitter trending of Y.M.C.A. is off the chart right now with false accusations about the song. But as I’ve said numerous times before (and this was proven in federal court), I wrote 100% of the lyrics to Y.M.C.A., so I ought to know what my song is about.”
“Y.M.C.A. is one of the most iconic songs in the world,” Willis concluded. “I will not stand idle and allow it to be defamed. Therefore, I will sue the next media organization, or anyone else, that falsely suggests Y.M.C.A. is somehow about illicit gay sex. Get your minds out of the gutter please! It is not about that!”
NOTICE ABOUT Y.M.C.A: News and Twitter trending of Y.M.C.A. is off the chart right now with false accusations about the…
Posted by Victor Willis on Sunday, September 20, 2020
Willis further elaborated in a comment on his post. “There is no Gay subtext to Y.M.C.A.,” he unequivocally declares. “Did Village People record songs with a Gay subtext? YES we did! But YMCA is not one of them. In fact, the Gay songs all appeared on the first album. But by the second album when I started writing lyrics, Jacques Morali and I moved our music away from that, and into the mainstream. This is why the second, third, fourth, and fifth albums were far more successful than the first album because the music was moved away from that narrow focus. But some assumed we continued. We did not. This will all be flushed out in the upcoming Village People motion picture.”
Related: YMCA Denies Same-Sex Couple Park Pass Because They’re Not A “Traditional Family”
The motion picture in question refers to an unofficial announcement by Willis in August 2020 that a new biopic of The Village People is in final negotiation stages. Further details on the film have yet to be made public.
Willis & “Y.M.C.A.” landed himself in the news earlier this year for his sharp criticism of use of the song by the Republican Party at rallies. Willis also attacked Donald Trump for the use of The Village People tune “Macho Man” at campaign stops. Willis requested Trump stop using the song, but stopped short of filing legal action.
Invader7
Ok Victor. You meant the lyrics to mean one thing…..though MANY people interpreted the lyrics to mean something different… It still is a rocking song.. especially the remixes…..!!
jayceecook
I have no respect for this man. He’s spent the past 20 years trying to de-gay TVP. While he did write some catchy and cheezy songs the fact that he has worked tirelessly to take the group and songs back from a community/culture he appropriated for money is gross and offensive.
Blue Zoo
I couldn’t agree more. Not to mention that the only interesting thing about the music is the gay innuendo. Without it, the songs are just banal and cheesy.
Blue Zoo
Which album was that from again? Cruising? Yep, yep, he’s right, they got the gay completely out of it by then.
rbernard
I suspect Victor Willis crashed and burned and then found religion or something else is up.
I am not sure why after over 40 years this is suddenly an issue right now…but, what he is saying doesn’t make any sense.
Back in the late 1970s, I was there dancing in the clubs when that song became a hit.
It was a time when people could actually stay overnight at the YMCA in NYC or in SF. The YMCA was notorious in those days before the plague, for all manner of male naughtiness to occur and coincidentally the Village People YMCA song broke out at the same time – no one needs to wonder how anyone made this association.
Now Willis is irrationally begging a generation to not assume what has been obvious for 40 years.
Move on…
Donston
It is disturbing that he’s trying to re-write history. He used “queer” aesthetics, homo passions and “gay” innuendos and stereotypes to sell and promote that group. Now, he’s not trying to pretend that wasn’t the case. Please.
controversial2019
Looking through the lyrics, the only ones really that imply gay “subtext” (though i wouldn’t call it subtext; I personally think it’d pretty obviously text text):
Young man, there’s a place you can go
I said, young man, when you’re short on your dough
You can stay there, and I’m sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time
It’s fun to stay at the YMCA
It’s fun to stay at the YMCA
They have everything for you men to enjoy
You can hang out with all the boys
“Many ways to have a good time” – okay, I guess if the YMCA offered numerous free activities like snooker, football, darts; one might have many ways to have a good time that wasn’t sexual.
“It’s fun to stay at the YMCA” – as above
“You can hang out with all the boys” – yes, it could mean (I guess) “you can have hetero male camaraderie and hang out with other guys in the same situation as you” but REALLY, the use of “all the boys” is really the ode to the community there
I call bullsh*t
KiwiJello
Music is meant to be interpreted. Stop whining about the interpretation and be happy anyone is listening to your art at all. Some people never get a song on the radio, let alone a massive hit that lasts decades. Complain more…
And BTW:
They have everything for you men to enjoy
You can hang out with all the boys
Is soooo gay. 😉
Donston
Even if that wasn’t his initial intention, even when The Village People were popular and relevant they played up their connections to “gay”. And the group members have admitted this much. So, he can’t completely claim ignorance. While he seems personally offended by it nowadays instead of just having fun with it. It’s not that serious.
jeffaplus
Lmao ok buddy, read up on death of the author sometime
dustychiffon
Okay dear, whatever you say.
It may not have been intended to be gay, but with all of you singing it, sure as heck made it as gay as possible.
Leave that gay anthem alone!
Terrycloth
They still tour and Victor Willis is the only original member. Saw them live a few times .once in a gay bar in Springfield mass called the frontier. They showed up late and after they did perform all of them were stuck up with attitudes .the second time as part of a Disco concert with other acts ..hardly a sell out too.
jayceecook
The reason he is the only original member is because he sued to have the band and all it’s IP given to him. TVP used to tour with more of the other former members, which were a lot honestly, but Willis wanted that money. Because he wrote or cowrote a lot of their earlier songs before leaving the group he was awarded everything. Then he revamped the group to be more to his liking. The guy is a major homophobe who appropriated gay culture to sell it back to them, in a sense, to make a money.
Kangol2
Victor Willis is full of sh!t. That song is extremely gay, and you don’t have to overinterpret the lyrics to see it.
The first album, Village People, clearly plays with gay themes. The songs include “Fire Island,” “Village People,” and the hit “San Francisco (You Got Me).”
The second, Macho Man, is also has a clearly gay foundation. The title song, “Key West,” “I Am What I Am,” etc. make it apparent, and there’s even a song “Sodom and Gomorrah.
Cruisin’, which was the third album, is no less gay. “Y.M.C.A.,” “I’m A Cruiser,” “Hot Cop,” etc. I mean, Victor Willis may tell himself one thing, but the rest of us aren’t…well, let’s just say we can see and hear exactly what’s going on.
zealot
….and in other music news Carly Simon admits “You’re So Vain”, not about Warren Beatty…it’s actually, inexplicably about Broadway’s Mandy Patinkin!
MikeColling83
Sure Jan…
The big sky
HA HA HA HA Tee Hee, Splutter, HA HA
Cam
Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
searchcz
The author can tell us about the intent of the lyrics to YMCA. But the culture has long since decided what the song IS about.
innocentgay
Nope, sorry. “No homo” can’t save you from everything.
James
WHO CARES. THIS IS A WASHED UP GROUP FROM 40 YEARS AGO.
ShiningSex
It became a gay anthem so who cares what it’s about. Songs can be interpreted by people.
Get over it queen. At least gays like your music and most of others DON’T !!!
amanwithanedge
oh please, Mary.
jlicks
This is not Gay,
“They have everything for you men to enjoy
You can hang out with all the boys…”
give me a break.
jlicks
Lets see, one of the most iconic Gay groups sings about one of the most iconic Gay institutions.
Conclusion, the song is not Gay…lmfao.
Joshooeerr
If he genuinely things there’s no gay subtext to YMCA he must be one of the dumbest people on earth.
GayEGO
YMCA is about all men, not about sex, just as YWCA is all about women, not sex.
PolishBear
Who is Victor Willis trying to kid? And who the hell cares in this day and age? He claims “YMCA” is just about he and his friends playing basketball when they were kids. Puh-LEEZE. Look at the lyrics of the song, taken in context of the Y’s iconic and historic status as a Gay meeting place.
It’s a shame that the Village People have gone from a brazenly, campily Gay act to little more than a franchise, playing state fairs and casinos and playing DOWN the Gay angle at every opportunity. Even Jeffrey James Lippold (the latest incarnation of the “Leather Man”) is a Trump supporter and conspiracy theorist. Anyone who had Village People albums back in the 1970s knew what they were all about. With songs like “San Francisco,” “In the Navy,” and “Fire Island,” how could anyone think otherwise?
calpoidog
I suspect he’s trying to protect royalties received from playing the song…doubtful the Republicans would play it if he came out and said it was “gay”
Kevan1
Tough, everyone In the know or gay community have made the song out to be what it is or isn’t. So me and many others believe what they believe about the song. The gay community has adopted it to mean what it seems to be to us. A nod and a wink to what the Y means to many of the gay community and others. He should be happy that the song had endured and he still gets residuals from it. If he lost his right to residuals, that’s on him and no one else. Move on babe.