"Y.M.C.A." is a song by American disco group

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the releas ...

. It was released in 1978 as the only single from their third studio album, '' Cruisin''' (1978). The song was written by

Jacques Morali Jacques Morali (4 July 1947 – 15 November 1991) was a French disco and dance music record producer and songwriter, known for creating acts like The Ritchie Family and Village People. Early life Morali was born in Casablanca, Morocco ...

(also the record's producer) and singer

Victor Willis Victor Edward Willis (born July 1, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the founding member of the disco group Village People. He performed as their lead singer and was co-songwriter for all of their most successful singles ...

. A medley with " Hot Cop" reached No. 2 on '' Billboard''

Dance Music/Club Play Singles Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart, while the song reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts in early 1979, placing behind both "

Le Freak "Le Freak" is a 1978 funk / disco song by American R&B band Chic. It was the band's third single and first ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B number-one hit song. Along with the tracks " I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer", "Le Freak" scored number ...

" by

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English diction ...

and "

Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", also written "Da' Ya' Think I'm Sexy", is a song by British singer Rod Stewart from his ninth studio album, ''Blondes Have More Fun'' (1978). It was written by Stewart, Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings, though it inc ...

" by Rod Stewart. Outside the US, "Y.M.C.A." reached No. 1 in the UK around the same time, becoming the group's biggest hit. It is one of fewer than 40

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide. The song remains popular and is played at many

sporting events Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, t ...

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. In September 2000 "Y.M.C.A." was used as the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

wake-up call on day 11 of

STS-106 STS-106 was a 2000 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis, Space Shuttle '' Atlantis''. Crew Spacewalks * '' Lu and Malenchenko '' – EVA 1 *EVA 1 Start: 11 September 2000 – 04:47 UTC ...

. 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 The 2008 Brut Sun Bowl, part of the 2008–09 NCAA Division I FBS bowl season, was played on December 31, 2008 at the stadium of the same name on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso in El Paso, Texas. The 75th annual contest pitted ...

game in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. "Y.M.C.A." is No. 7 on VH1's list of ''The 100 Greatest Dance Songs of the 20th Century.'' In 2020, "Y.M.C.A" was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

and selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

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 YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

began building

single room occupancy Single room occupancy (more commonly abbreviated to SRO) is a form of housing that is typically aimed at residents with low or minimal incomes who rent small, furnished single rooms with a bed, chair, and sometimes a small desk. SRO units are ren ...

(SRO) facilities in the 1880s to house people from rural areas who moved into cities to look for work. 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.

, lead singer and lyricist, recalls that while in the studio, producer

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'''. 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. 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.

Composition and background

Lyrical content

Taken at face value, the song's

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

extol the virtues of the

Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

(YMCA). However, in the

gay culture Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including '' ...

from which the image and music of the Village People came, 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 Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

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 Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. However, Willis has often acknowledged his fondness for

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

. 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...

han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

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 G-flat major (or the key of G-flat) is a major scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has six flats. Its relative minor is E-flat minor (or enharmonically D-sharp minor), and its parallel ...

, begins with a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

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 Ecphonesis ( el, ἐκφώνησις) is an emotional, exclamatory phrase (wikt:exclamation, exclamation) used in poetry, drama, or song. It is a rhetorical device that originated in ancient literature. A Latin example is O tempora o mores!, "O t ...

, 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 ''Can't Stop the Music'' is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Nancy Walker. Written by Allan Carr and Bronté Woodard, the film is a pseudo-biography of the 1970s disco group the Village People loosely based on the actual story ...

'', though by that time

Ray Simpson Ray Simpson (born January 15, 1954) is an American singer best known as a former lead singer and "Cop" of the disco super-group Village People, having been in that role for over 30 years. In August 1979, he replaced original lead singer, Victo ...

had replaced him as the policeman.

Reception

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

'' stated that "Y.M.C.A." is "another example of he Village People'sdroll humor, playing off its gayness with hard hat themes." ''Billboard'' also called Y.M.C.A (and its B-side, "The Women") one of the best cuts on the ''Cruisin'' album. '' Cash Box'' said that "Y.M.C.A." has "layered horn work and strings and a bright, soaring chorus" and that "Willis' lead vocals are commanding." Although the song did not reach No. 1 in the United States, it became a No. 1 hit throughout the world and has remained popular at parties, sporting events, weddings and functions ever since.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Y.M.C.A." was filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in July 1978. The video features the band singing the song and dancing all over the city. The location shown the most is the original site of YMCA, McBurney, 213 West 23rd Street. Other filming locations included 395 West Street, the West Side Piers and

Hudson River Park Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches and ...

. It 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: :Y arms outstretched and raised upwards :M made by bending the elbows from the 'Y' pose so the fingertips meet in front of the chest :C arms extended to the left :A hands held together above head The dance originated on

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...

's '' American Bandstand''. The group performed the song during the January 6, 1979 episode. Clark then said to Willis that he would like to show him something, playing the song again with the audience doing YMCA hand gestures.''American Bandstand'' 1978 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 The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

games at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

, the grounds crew traditionally grooms the

infield Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. Baseball In baseball, the diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass-c ...

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 ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...

'' ranked the song #1 on their list of ''The 60 Best Dancefloor Classics'' in February 2017. In 2022, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked it #139 in their list of ''200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time''. The Village People recorded a version of the song for

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

in 1997 for a commercial featuring a group of dancing bears, changing the lyrics to match the drink and spelling out P-E-P-S-I. A few months afterwards, Pepsi used the song again as part of its new blue-themed imaging for the

Pepsi Globe The Pepsi Globe is the logo for Pepsi, named for the red, white, and blue design in a sphere-like shape. It is one of the most recognizable logos in the world. History The modern Pepsi logo has its origins in the 1940s, during World War II. Pe ...

. During the

, in a half time performance with

The Village People ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, it became the largest Y.M.C.A dance ever, with over 40,000 people in attendance dancing and singing to the song. 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

added the song to its

, which preserves for posterity audio that is "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". In December 2020, "Y.M.C.A." was inducted into the

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

began using the song (as well as another Village People song, "Macho Man") to close out his rallies during his 2020 re-election campaign. Willis initially approved its use but after several incidents involving the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

protests, he demanded Trump stop. ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' parodied the song and the group's reaction with "Cease and desist" on the October 24, 2020, segment of ''

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typic ...

''. As a result, the song was back in the Top 20 on iTunes in November 2020 and hit the #2 spot on the Billboard Dance Digital Song Sales chart. On November 6, following the media's declaration that Joe Biden had taken the lead in Pennsylvania over then President Trump in the

2020 US presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...

, Biden supporters celebrated by dancing in the streets and singing the song across the city of Philadelphia. The song was played over loudspeakers as Donald Trump boarded Air Force One for the last time on January 20, 2021, en route to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

before the

inauguration of Joe Biden The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, marking the start of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. The 59th presidential ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Hideki Saijo version

In 1979, Japanese singer

Hideki Saijo was a Japanese singer and television celebrity most famous for singing the Japanese version of the Village People's hit song " Y.M.C.A.," called " Young Man." In the 1970s, he was called with Goro Noguchi and Hiromi Go. Although the origina ...

covered the song for his compilation album ''Young Man/Hideki Flying Up'' as "Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)". In Japan, the cover topped on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...

chart for five consecutive weeks and became the seventh best-selling single of 1979 in Japan. For the cover, the lyrics were re-written in Japanese by Saijo's manager, Ryuji Amagai. This version is also notable for having a call-and-response in the middle where Saijo and a group of child singers chant the letters "Y M C A" back and forth.

Commercial performance

"Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)" debuted at number two on the

Oricon Weekly Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In ...

, and in the following week, it reached number one, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks. The song finally became the seventh best-selling single of 1979 in Japan and Saijo's best-selling single to date, with the sales of 808,000 copies. Following the death of Saijo on 16 May 2018, the song re-entered the chart, peaking at number fifteen on the

Billboard Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

Accolades

"Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)" won the Grand Prix at the FNS Music Festival '79 and the 10th Japan Music Awards. Despite the hit, the song was disqualified for the 21st Japan Record Awards due to the competition's guideline that requires the songs to be original work. At the award, Saijo instead won the golden award for his single, "Yuki ga Areba" (1979).

Cover versions

"Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)" has been covered by multiple other Asian musicians, including

Keisuke Kuwata is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and frontman for the Southern All Stars, as well of his own solo band, the Kuwata band. He has also done a significant amount of scoring music for films. He went to Aoyama Gakuin University ...

, Aska,

George Lam George Lam Tsz-Cheung (born 12 October 1947), also known professionally by his surname Lam, is a Hong Kong-based veteran Cantopop singer, singer-songwriter, music producer and actor, with a career that has so far lasted more than four decades. Lam ...

Yang Kun Yang Kun (; born 18 December 1972) is a Chinese singer-songwriter. He was one of the judges of TV talent show '' The Voice of China'' during the first season and third season of the show. He was on the first season of ''Sing My Song'' and was a c ...

, and

E-girls E-girls (sometimes stylized as E-Girls or e-girls; stands for Exile Girls) was a Japanese collective girl group created and managed by LDH while signed to music label Rhythm Zone from Avex. As of 2017, the band consisted of 11 members; 8 of wh ...

Track listing

7-inch single # "Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)" – 4:43 # "Hideki Disco Special" (Medley)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Touché 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 Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, 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 # "YMCA" (Rap Version) – 3:09 # "YMCA" (Vocal Version) – 3:14 # "Promise To Believe" (Touché) – 3:57 # "I Want Your Body" (Touché) – 3:19

Charts

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Y.M.C.A. (Song) 1978 singles 1978 songs 1979 singles 1998 singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles Casablanca Records singles Christianity in popular culture Disco songs Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Hansa Records singles LGBT-related songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland Oricon Weekly number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Jacques Morali Songs written by Jacques Morali Songs written by Victor Willis UK Singles Chart number-one singles United States National Recording Registry recordings Village People songs

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

Memes