Why the YMCA Song is More Than a Disco Song
Autor: -tas- <(at)>, Téma: 02/2014, Vydáno dne: 25. 07. 2014ENGLYSH WITH TAMARA
I was probably twelve or thirteen years old when I first registered the song “Y.M.C.A.” by the music group Village People; I can’t remember if I heard it in a movie, on TV, or if it was at a school dance. Well, “dances” at that age were more like discos, held in the school gym with the lights turned down and with the music blaring through one speaker – but I digress. In any case, we all dutifully danced to it and learned how to spell out the letters with our arms, believing it was a phenomenon more related to the „Chicken Dance“ than to anything else. The only part of the song that we really listened to was the refrain, and we didn’t give the words themselves a second thought.
As I grew older, I stopped going to such silly school dances and started attending the discos themselves. I am probably not exaggerating when I claim that this song must be on every playlist of every disco (or birthday celebration, wedding, New Year’s celebration, dance, sports event, etc.) in every corner of the planet. I grew tired of jumping around to the primitive disco beat and then stopping to flail my arms in the air during the refrain. The song had practically no meaning for me, except perhaps serving as a means for connecting socially with the group I was with at the moment (e.g. grinning at each other and thinking: hey, aren’t we being silly together?). Then, at an even older age, I finally listened to the words of the song, and I found their double entendres to be crass and vulgar. I was offended that all what the YMCA stood for, stands for and will stand for was reduced to a dating service of sorts (most of us know what I mean, and I feel it unnecessary to go deeper into the matter). I became a staunch protester against the song itself, and I held this distaste for it even when I started to work at the Y this January.
Since then, however, my harsh feelings towards the thumping rhythms of it have abated somewhat. Why is this, since my stance about the true meaning of the lyrics has remained the same? Primarily it has to do with the fact that I have had the chance to “flail my arms about” in an entirely new context: I am now dancing from within the YMCA family, not from the outside. In the past months, I have had several opportunities to dance “the dance” with my fellow YMCAers, for instance, at the Unify Conference in Görlitz or at the annual meeting at Soběšín.
Each time, I felt the fun, the love, the togetherness of our movement; suddenly, the words now represent so much more! Behind them, I see the 170 years of our blessed existence. I see the future with its challenges and rewards. I see the smiles and hugs and tears and laughs of YMCA members from around the world. I feel the warmth and love that connects our large and caring YMCA family. I see the work of God on this crazy earth, and I thank Him for his many blessings. I thank Him for our YMCA.
This June, I attended a wedding in Poland. Many of the guests came from England, where the newlyweds reside. Since I speak English, I was seated with them. And so, the classic conversation starter sounded: what do you do? I answered that I work for the YMCA in the Czech Republic. To my surprise, the person asking me wasn’t very familiar with our work, and so I explained to the best of my ability that we are not just a disco song, but the largest youth movement on earth. I also said that specific activities vary from country to country, but that we are all connected by our dedication to the Paris Basis. He nodded with understanding, and we started talking about other things. Later, on the dance floor, the familiar exclamation streamed through the amplifier: “Young man!” The Brit laughed and pointed at me, and this time, I didn’t flail my arms about during the refrain, but instead, I danced with joy, thankfully singing to myself: “It’s fun to stay at the YMCA…!”.
I sincerely hope that you, too, find the YMCA fun and rewarding. Let’s continue working together to make it fun and rewarding in the future, too! Have a safe summer!
Tamara Anne Smelíková, YMCA v ČR, foto: J. V. Hynek
P.S. In the last issue, I mentioned my uncle who wrote a letter from a Y in the USA to his father stationed in Germany during World War II. This uncle happened to visit Prague in May, and when he found out that I now work at the YMCA, he brightened: “Are you still located on Na Poříčí Street? Is there still a pool there? Do you still have the paternoster? I remember spending time there after moving to Prague in the 1940’s!” :-)
________________________________
Vocabulary
lights turned down – ztlumená světla (oproti “lights
turned off” = zhasnutá světla)
to digress – odbíhat od tématu
to give something a second thought – dobře si něco rozmyslet, přemýšlet o něčím hlouběji
to flail – doslovně: mlátit obilí cepem, přeneseně: rozhazovat
rukama
to serve as a means – sloužit jako prostředek
e. g. – např.
double entendres – dvojsmysly
to go deeper into the matter – hlouběji se zabývat
to abate – slábnout, zmenšit se, snížit, omezit
stance – postoj
to do with the fact – mít s něčím co do činění, souviset
YMCAers – ymkář
Newlyweds – novomanželé
what do you do? – (hov.) „Co děláš?”, tj. “Jaké máte zaměstnání, čím se zabýváte?”
to nod with understanding – (při)kývnout s pochopením,
přitakat
I was probably twelve or thirteen years old when I first registered the song “Y.M.C.A.” by the music group Village People; I can’t remember if I heard it in a movie, on TV, or if it was at a school dance. Well, “dances” at that age were more like discos, held in the school gym with the lights turned down and with the music blaring through one speaker – but I digress. In any case, we all dutifully danced to it and learned how to spell out the letters with our arms, believing it was a phenomenon more related to the „Chicken Dance“ than to anything else. The only part of the song that we really listened to was the refrain, and we didn’t give the words themselves a second thought.
As I grew older, I stopped going to such silly school dances and started attending the discos themselves. I am probably not exaggerating when I claim that this song must be on every playlist of every disco (or birthday celebration, wedding, New Year’s celebration, dance, sports event, etc.) in every corner of the planet. I grew tired of jumping around to the primitive disco beat and then stopping to flail my arms in the air during the refrain. The song had practically no meaning for me, except perhaps serving as a means for connecting socially with the group I was with at the moment (e.g. grinning at each other and thinking: hey, aren’t we being silly together?). Then, at an even older age, I finally listened to the words of the song, and I found their double entendres to be crass and vulgar. I was offended that all what the YMCA stood for, stands for and will stand for was reduced to a dating service of sorts (most of us know what I mean, and I feel it unnecessary to go deeper into the matter). I became a staunch protester against the song itself, and I held this distaste for it even when I started to work at the Y this January.
Since then, however, my harsh feelings towards the thumping rhythms of it have abated somewhat. Why is this, since my stance about the true meaning of the lyrics has remained the same? Primarily it has to do with the fact that I have had the chance to “flail my arms about” in an entirely new context: I am now dancing from within the YMCA family, not from the outside. In the past months, I have had several opportunities to dance “the dance” with my fellow YMCAers, for instance, at the Unify Conference in Görlitz or at the annual meeting at Soběšín.
Each time, I felt the fun, the love, the togetherness of our movement; suddenly, the words now represent so much more! Behind them, I see the 170 years of our blessed existence. I see the future with its challenges and rewards. I see the smiles and hugs and tears and laughs of YMCA members from around the world. I feel the warmth and love that connects our large and caring YMCA family. I see the work of God on this crazy earth, and I thank Him for his many blessings. I thank Him for our YMCA.
This June, I attended a wedding in Poland. Many of the guests came from England, where the newlyweds reside. Since I speak English, I was seated with them. And so, the classic conversation starter sounded: what do you do? I answered that I work for the YMCA in the Czech Republic. To my surprise, the person asking me wasn’t very familiar with our work, and so I explained to the best of my ability that we are not just a disco song, but the largest youth movement on earth. I also said that specific activities vary from country to country, but that we are all connected by our dedication to the Paris Basis. He nodded with understanding, and we started talking about other things. Later, on the dance floor, the familiar exclamation streamed through the amplifier: “Young man!” The Brit laughed and pointed at me, and this time, I didn’t flail my arms about during the refrain, but instead, I danced with joy, thankfully singing to myself: “It’s fun to stay at the YMCA…!”.
I sincerely hope that you, too, find the YMCA fun and rewarding. Let’s continue working together to make it fun and rewarding in the future, too! Have a safe summer!
Tamara Anne Smelíková, YMCA v ČR, foto: J. V. Hynek
P.S. In the last issue, I mentioned my uncle who wrote a letter from a Y in the USA to his father stationed in Germany during World War II. This uncle happened to visit Prague in May, and when he found out that I now work at the YMCA, he brightened: “Are you still located on Na Poříčí Street? Is there still a pool there? Do you still have the paternoster? I remember spending time there after moving to Prague in the 1940’s!” :-)
________________________________
Vocabulary