Y M C A

On the mornings when I ride my bike to the store I go past a Catholic elementary school. Today, as I was riding past, there was a group of kids in the parking lot, all dressed in their white shirts and navy blue slacks and skirts, being led by a female teacher as she danced to The Village People's YMCA, which was playing on a portable boombox. I laughed at the sight - these Catholic elementary school kids doing the YMCA dance, led by a dumpy middle aged teacher.



And then as I rode along I processed the moment a bit more and began to recognize the unique cultural shift YMCA has made in the past 30+ years. In the 1970's it was a throaway disco song sang by a group of cartoonish men. The very gay and sexual nature of The Village People, which was a celebration of the disco era's sexual liberation, also gave YMCA a different kind of meaning. And now in the early aughts, YMCA is a wedding song, often heard at sporting events, and even taught to Catholic school kids. The song has shifted from a sexy, disco, uber-gay hit to an innocent, dance-along ditty.

I guess that's progress.