In the long run, it was probably for the best. Still, the Navy decided to stick with its old “Anchors Aweigh” for recruiting purposes. In the end, it’s just supposed to be a fun pop song. The lyrics are just a play intended to make people think there’s more to the background than there really is. In fact, Victor Willis isn’t even a gay man.
The principle writer of the songs, frontman (and faux-policeman) Victor Willis has said there are no intended homosexual references in any of the songs, not “In The Navy” or “YMCA.” The Navy (and general public) was applying those meanings on their own. “… If you like adventure,Īccording to the band, however, that’s not true at all. To the Navy, it began to be seen as an anthem for promoting homosexual intercourse while underway.Įverywhere the Navy looked in the song, there was some sort of implicit reference. The song peaked at #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts.īut seeing as the band was, for the most part, an openly gay band in the late 1970s, upon closer inspection, the lyrics seemed to be filled with double entendre. The Village People performed the song aboard the frigate USS Reasoner at Naval Base San Diego.
The Navy could use the song for free in a commercial so as long as the Village People could film the music video for the song aboard a real U.S. Where can you begin to make your dreams all come true ,Ī deal was struck.
The song was written well before the Navy asked about it and, in the service’s defense, it seems like a pretty innocuous song, praising the life of a sailor. In the 40 years since the Village People released YMCA, the song has become a cultural touchstone: a gay anthem famous for its innuendos and double entendres. Second, the Navy asked the band to use this song as the Navy’s official recruiting song.įollowing up on the success of the band’s previous hit, “YMCA,” the United States Navy approached the band’s management to get permission to use it in a recruiting campaign. What began as a gay anthem performed by the Village People is performed at campaign rallies and the sixth. The song itself is one of the most bizarre cultural phenomena of all time. At some point in your life (especially if you’ve ever been in the Navy), you’ve heard Village People’s 1979 disco classic, “In The Navy.” Whatever you know about the group and this song, know these two things: First, their characters are supposed to be the ultimate, macho, American men. is an unmistakable call to the dance floor - from the opening brass hits of its intro melody you know what song is playing and you even know the arm motions that accompany the lyrics.