Y.M.C.A. is a 1978 disco song by the Village People.
On Married... with Children, it is heard in the Season 8 episode, "Take My Wife, Please". It is also mentioned earlier in the Season 7 episode, "Al on the Rocks".
Background[]
The song's lyrics, when taken at face value, is about the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) and the fun activities that it can offer to boys and young men who may need a safe place to go or find some direction in life. The association, at one point, tried to sue the group over trademark infringement, but have since embraced it as an anthem.
Additionally, the song is also popular at parties and sporting events, with people performing the accompanying dance, which involves using one's arms to spell out the individual letters during the chorus.
Though, due to the Village People's association with gay culture, many also view the song as a gay anthem and its lyrics as being a double entendre. David Hodo, who played the construction worker from 1978 to 2013 (and appeared on MWC), insisted that it has a gay origin story and noted that the group, as well as the YMCA, was full of gay men and that their first album was "possibly the gayest album ever" during an interview with Spin magazine in 2008.[1] Despite its Christian background and youth outreach goal, the YMCA was also known for being a popular place for gay men to meet and hook up at.
In contrast, Randy Jones, who played the cowboy from 1977 to 1990 stated that the song is not a gay anthem and that there is nothing in the lyrics that could actually be interpreted as being gay.[1]
Victor Willis, who wrote the lyrics and was the group's lead singer at the time, has stated in interviews that the lyrics were literally about the times he had playing sports with his friends at the YMCA as a youth and that the lyrics were meant to be relatable to anyone. He also noted that he is in fact heterosexual (having been previously married to actress Phylicia Rashad).
While at least one source claimed that Willis had no qualms with the gay community using it as an anthem[2] , as of December 2024, Willis has continuously asserted that the song is not a gay anthem and the lyrics do not have any hidden gay themes or meanings. He went on to state that the idea originally stemmed from several factors, such as Jacques Morali, who co-wrote the song, being openly gay, the first album having gay themes, and the YMCA being known for its gay hook up culture. He has also threatened to sue any media outlet that continues to insist that the song is a gay anthem beginning in 2025.[3][4][5]
Since 2020, the song has been used by U.S. President Donald Trump during his 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns. While Willis had originally asked him to stop using the song, due to the complaints he received about the usage, he also noted that the Trump campaign had a political use license from BMI, meaning that the campaign had every right to use it. Although he could have had his wife (who is a lawyer and the band's manager) contact BMI to take away the license, Willis later had a change of heart after seeing several other musicians send cease-and-desist letters to the Trump campaign and request that they stop using their songs. As of 2024, the song has had a resurgence in popularity, pushing it up to #1 on the Billboard charts, with several athletes performing Trump's modified dance to the song to celebrate their victories. Willis has since thanked Trump for helping making the song popular again and will continue to allow him to use the song.[6][4][5]
Usage on Married... with Children[]
In the Season 8 episode, "Take My Wife, Please", Marcy D'Arcy mentions that she is having one of her women's group meetings and had hired the Village People to perform, but they had to cancel at the last minute. In a desperate attempt, she forces her husband Jefferson D'Arcy and the neighbors Peggy, Kelly, and Bud, to dress up as the group.
She makes them perform "Y.M.C.A." but as she only had the 45 record, it is the only song that they can perform. After hearing the song play endlessly, the women starts to be aggravated, as they also begin to realize that the group on the stage is not the real Village People. A few moments later, the real Village People enter the house and reveal that they would been their sooner, but, as they were wearing their costumes, they were getting candy. Marcy then tries to pretend that she didn't know about her husband and the Bundys dressing up as the group and allows the real group to take the stage.
When the group takes the stage, they open up once again with "Y.M.C.A.", which enrages the women and causes them to attack the group.
Later, Bud and Kelly desperately try to wake their father Al Bundy up, as Kelly noted that the tank she uses for her Verminator costume sprung a leak and that Al had been inhaling toxic chemicals. Al then ask if the whole situation with the Village People (and him being visited by the grim reaper) was just a hallucination, but Kelly reassures him that it was actually real and to make him feel better, she invited the group over to sing at the Bundy residence.
As the group begins to sing "Y.M.C.A.", the other Bundys, as well as the Grim Reaper, begin to dance. In a final attempt to end his life, Al grabs Kelly's leaking tank and begins to inhale the fumes again, while everyone else is busy dancing to the song.
Additionally, in the Season 7 episode, "Al on the Rocks", after Al gets a job working as a topless bartender, he comes home wearing a leather vest and pants. Then when Marcy and Jefferson stop by, they laugh at the sight of Al flexing his muscles. After asking what was so funny, Marcy tell him, "Oh, nothing, I just had a Village People flashback". She then offers Al a dollar to sing "Y.M.C.A.", before opting to instead give him two dollars to put some clothes on.
Lyrics[]
Young man, there's no need to feel down
I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground
I said, young man, 'cause you're in a new town
There's no need to be unhappy
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
It's fun to stay at the YMCA
It's fun to stay at the YMCA
You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal
You can do what about you feel
Young man, are you listening to me?
I said, young man, what do you want to be?
I said, young man, you can make real your dreams
But you got to know this one thing
No man does it all by himself
I said, young man, put your pride on the shelf
And just go there, to the YMCA
I'm sure they can help you today
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
It's fun to stay at the YMCA
It's fun to stay at the YMCA
You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal
You can do what about you feel
Young man, I was once in your shoes
I said, I was down and out with the blues
I felt no man cared if I were alive
I felt the whole world was so tight
That's when someone came up to me
And said, young man, take a walk up the street
There's a place there called the YMCA
They can start you back on your way
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
YMCA you'll find it at the YMCA
Young man, young man, there's no need to feel down
Young man, young man, pick yourself off the ground
YMCA, it's fun to stay at the YMCA
Young man, young man, are you listening to me
Young man, young man, what do you wanna be?
YMCA, you'll find it YMCA
No man, young man, does it all by himself
Young man, young man, put your pride on the shelf
YMCA, and just go to the YMCA
Young man, young man I was once in your shoes
Young man, young man I was down with the blues, YMCA
Referneces[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “Y.M.C.A.” (An Oral History). SPIN (May 27, 2008). Retrieved on December 3, 2024.
- ↑ 45 years of the Village People’s ‘YMCA’, the first great gay anthem in history). WECB Radio (November 13, 2023). Retrieved on December 3, 2024.
- ↑ ‘Quite refreshing’: Village People singer threatens to sue over calling YMCA song a ‘gay anthem’
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Village People Singer Defends Donald Trump Using ‘Y.M.C.A’: ‘I Thank Him for Choosing to Use My Song’. Breitbart (December 3, 2024). Retrieved on December 3, 2024.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Village People singer defends Trump's use of 'Y.M.C.A.,' says song isn't a 'gay anthem'. NBC News (December 2, 2024). Retrieved on December 3, 2024.
- ↑ Village People Singer Says Trump's Use of 'YMCA' Is Good for Business. TMZ (October 15, 2024). Retrieved on December 3, 2024.