This is just what I needed this morning.

[pantryslut]

[Emphasis mine.]

From Poplicks:

"...artists who write gender-neutral love songs today often invite rumors of their sexuality.

Those singers who are actually out (e.g., Michael Stipe, k.d. lang, Elton John) rarely release gender-specific same-sex love songs. Have you ever heard a "gay" love song on the radio?

Moreover, in our hyper-homophobic society, many male singers rumoured to be gay or seemingly insecure about their "manliness" often go overboard to perform songs about women.

This is all a long preamble to introduce my new hypothesis / hope / plan ...

From now on, whenever I hear a man sing or rap about a woman, I will assume he is actually referring to a man.

Let's test it out, shall we? Herewith are some famous song lyrics with only the genders reversed..."

Comments

[susannochka.livejournal.com]

the link appears to be broken...

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Fixed.

[las.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine speculated that Queen's "We Will Rock You" is about queer youth. Which would be awesome, considering the legions of uber-masculine homophobes who chant along with the song at sports arenas everywhere.

[cheekytubemouse.livejournal.com]

Those singers who are actually out (e.g., Michael Stipe, k.d. lang, Elton John) rarely release gender-specific same-sex love songs.

My first reaction to that was, "Melissa Etheridge does!" But then I read the lyrics for her most recent cd and found out that I'm wrong. I'm mentally assigning genders to the people she sings about because I *know* she's a lesbian. Interesting.

[abostick59.livejournal.com]

She sings a *lot* about the female gender of the person she views as her rival.

I've always wondered why anyone would get involved with her, given that her persona as a songwriter is Psycho Jealous Bitch from Hell.

[cheekytubemouse.livejournal.com]

She sings a *lot* about the female gender of the person she views as her rival.

Right, but she isn't specific about the gender of the person whose affections they're fighting for.

[whumpdotcom.livejournal.com]

Rufus Wainwright's forthright about his sexuality in his recent albums.

[abostick59.livejournal.com]

Imagine macho-man singer-songwriter who only goes for his kind of woman, completely comfortable in who and what he is, while at the same time being aware that his preferences are hardly unique.

Wouldn't it make sense for him to write non-gender-specific lyrics, so that more people can identify with what he's singing about?

[tgeller.livejournal.com]

I felt sexy reading those gender-switched lyrics. But bittersweet: It reinforced how rare it is to hear men praised for our bodies, our sexiness, our "knowin' what to do when dancing".

OTOH, if that was all I heard, I'd get damn sick of it, too.