Y.M.C.A. (song)


"Y.M.C.A." is a song by the American disco group Village People. It was released in 1978 as the only single from their third studio album, Cruisin'. The song was written by Jacques Morali and singer Victor Willis. A medley with "Hot Cop" reached #2 on Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart, while the song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in early 1979, placing behind both "Le Freak" by Chic and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart. Outside the US, "Y.M.C.A." reached #1 in the UK around the same time, becoming the group's biggest hit. It is one of fewer than 40 singles to have sold 10 million physical copies worldwide.
The song remains popular and is played at many sporting events in the US and Europe, with crowds joining in on the dance in which arm movements are used to spell out the four letters of the song's title.
"Y.M.C.A." appeared as the Space Shuttle wake-up call on day 11 of mission STS-106.
In 2009, "Y.M.C.A." set a Guinness World Record when over 44,000 people danced to Village People's live performance of the song at the 2008 Sun Bowl game in El Paso, Texas. "Y.M.C.A." is #7 on VH1's list of "The 100 Greatest Dance Songs of the 20th Century."
In 2020, "Y.M.C.A" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In its official press release, the Library noted that "back in its heyday, 'Y.M.C.A.' was a hit around the world, going to No. 1 on the charts in over 15 countries, and its ongoing popularity is evidence that, despite the naysayers, disco has never truly died."

History

In the US, the YMCA began building single room occupancy facilities in the 1880s to house people from rural areas who moved into cities to look for work. The typical YMCA SRO housing provides "low-income, temporary housing for a rent of $110 per week" for stays that are typically three to six months long. By 1950, 670 of the 1,688 YMCAs in the US provided SRO spaces, which made 66,959 beds available. By the 1970s, the typical YMCA tenants were more likely to be homeless people and youth facing life issues, rather than people migrating from rural areas.
Victor Willis, lead singer and lyricist, recalls that while in the studio, producer Jacques Morali asked him, "What exactly is the YMCA?" After Willis explained it to him, he saw the expression on Morali's face and said, "Don't tell me, Jacques, you want to write a song about it?" and they quickly wrote the track for the album Cruisin'. In 2015, Willis won a legal case against Can't Stop Productions, successfully claiming that he and Morali had written this and other Village People songs together, without any involvement from executive producer Henri Belolo, who was credited on the song's original release. The production company claimed that Belolo had written French lyrics that were then adapted by Willis, but this claim was rejected by the court which ruled that Belolo's name as co-writer should be removed.
Upon the song's release, YMCA threatened to sue the band over trademark infringement. The organization ultimately settled with the composers out of court and later expressed pride regarding the song saluting the organization.

Composition and background

Lyrical content

Taken at face value, the song's lyrics extol the virtues of the Young Men's Christian Association. However, in the gay culture from which the Village People stemmed, the song was implicitly understood as celebrating YMCA's reputation as a popular cruising and hookup spot, particularly for the younger men to whom it was addressed. The initial goal of Village People producers Morali and Belolo was to attract disco's gay audience by featuring popular gay fantasy in their music. Although co-creator Morali was gay and the group was initially intended to target gay men, the group became more popular and more mainstream over time.
Conversely, Willis had said that he wrote the song in Vancouver, British Columbia and, through his publicist, that he did not write "Y.M.C.A." as a gay anthem, but rather as a reflection of the fun activities that young urban black youth experienced at YMCA, such as basketball and swimming. However, Willis has often acknowledged his fondness for double entendre.
In an article for Gothamist, writer Abbey White states the atmosphere of YMCA was "more complicated than the lyrics portray, with gay culture and working-class workouts coexisting in a single communal space", creating "a mix of white-collar and blue-collar residents, along with retired seniors and veterans", with about half of the residents being gay. While the song gives the impression that YMCA SROs in the 1970s had a party atmosphere, Paul Groth states that YMCA SRO units actually had "more supervision of your social life — a kind of management as to how you behaved... in a commercial rooming house, which mostly wanted to make sure the rooms were rented", without monitoring who you brought to your room.

Song structure

The song, played in the key of G♭ major, begins with a brass riff, backed by the constant pulse that typified disco. Many different instruments are used throughout for an overall orchestral feel, another disco convention, but it is brass that stands out.
As with other Village People hits, the lead vocals are handled by Willis and the background vocals are supplied by Willis and professional background singers. The distinctive vocal line features the repeated "Young man!" ecphonesis, followed by Willis singing the verse lines. The background vocals join in throughout the song.
Willis' version of the song is used in the Village People film Can't Stop the Music, though by that time Ray Simpson had replaced him as the policeman.

Reception

Billboard Magazine stated that "Y.M.C.A." is "another example of droll humor, playing off its gayness with hard hat themes." Billboard also called Y.M.C.A one of the best cuts on the Cruisin album. Although the song did not reach #1 in the United States, it became a #1 hit throughout the world and has remained popular at parties, sporting events, weddings and functions ever since.

Music video

The music video of "Y.M.C.A." was filmed in New York City in July 1978. The location shown in the music video is at 213 West 23rd Street, although some scenes featured the exterior of the McBurney Branch YMCA at 125 14th Street. Other filming locations in the city included the West Side Piers and Hudson River Park. The video features the band singing the song and dancing all over the city and ends with the camera zooming in on the Empire State Building.

Origin of dance and hand movement

YMCA is also the name of a group dance with cheerleader Y-M-C-A choreography invented to fit the song. One of the phases involves moving arms to form the letters Y-M-C-A as they are sung in the chorus:
The dance originated on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. During the January 6, 1979 episode, which featured the Village People as guests throughout the hour, the dance was performed by audience members while the group performed the song. Clark then said to Willis that he would like to show him something, playing the song again with the audience doing YMCA hand gestures. Willis immediately picked up on the dance and mimicked the hand movements back at the audience as other Village People members stared at him with puzzled looks. Clark then turned to Willis and said, "Victor, think you can work this dance into your routine?" Willis responded, "I think we're gonna have to." In a 2008 retrospective article for Spin, Randy Jones has opined that the dance may have originated as a misunderstanding: the group's original choreographed dance had the group clapping above their heads during the chorus and he believes that the audience, believing them to be making the letter "Y", began following suit.
Following the sixth inning of New York Yankees baseball games at Yankee Stadium, the grounds crew traditionally grooms the infield while leading the crowd in the dance.

Impact and legacy

VH1 placed "Y.M.C.A." at #7 on their list of "100 Greatest Dance Songs" in 2000, while Paste Magazine ranked the song #1 on their list of "The 60 Best Dancefloor Classics" in February 2017.
In 2012, in a landmark ruling in accordance with the Copyright Act of 1976, Willis terminated his copyrights granted to the publishers Can't Stop Productions and Scorpio Music.
In March 2015, it was determined that the sole writers of the song were Morali and Willis.
In March 2020 the US Library of Congress added the song to its National Recording Registry, which preserves for posterity audio that is "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

Personnel

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
Australia 76
France 90
Irish Singles Chart12
New Zealand 46
UK 12
Chart Peak
position
UK Singles 35
UK Dance 28
Chart Peak
position
Italy 76

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Sales and certifications

!scope="row"|Japan

Touché feat. Krayzee version

In 1998, Touché covered the hit for their album Kids in America with Krayzee. In this version Touche take over the vocal parts and only the rap contributes to Krayzee. In Belgium, this cover version was a top ten hit, while the success in the German-speaking countries, however, was rather modest.

Music video

In the music video Touche and Krayzee perform the song in a city area, accompanied by elaborate effects.

Track listing

CD maxi
  1. "YMCA" - 3:09
  2. "YMCA" - 3:14
  3. "Promise To Believe" - 3:57
  4. "I Want Your Body" - 3:19

    Charts

Other cover versions and parodies