“Macho Man” is a song by the American band Village People released in 1978. The rhythm and blues group enjoyed huge popularity and occupied a leading position in music chats. Let’s try to figure out what this song is about and why the hit is considered special in the musical culture of America.
The history of the single
One of the band members, Randy Jones, recalls in an interview that the hit was born very quickly. The musicians signed a contract with a recording studio in 1977 and literally the next day they were already recording “Macho Man” in the studio. Interestingly, the text was written by Viktor Ullist literally in the morning, on the eve of the recording. Randy Jones recalled, chuckling, that he brought them the handwritten version, which was stained with splashes from scrambled eggs and coffee. sketched it in a hurry at breakfast. The song appealed to the audience and raised the career of musicians to a whole new level.
The Meaning of “Macho Man” – Village People
Looking at the translation of the lyrics of the song, an unpleasant aftertaste arises, because it is full of a scene of a man’s narcissism with his beauty, body, gait, clothes. At first glance, it may seem that this is a kind of narcissistic attack, fixated on increasing one’s own self-esteem. But, if we dig deeper, we will go that this is a cruel satire on men who are delighted with their appearance, who fixate on it and most often belong to non-traditional minorities.
Confirmation of this theory can be found in the book “Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco”, where the author directly calls the song an ode to men with muscles and says that the musical composition gave a powerful impetus to the development of a separate direction in music that raises the theme of LGBT. It is noteworthy that after the composition became a phenomenal success, the musicians repeatedly raised the topic of homosexuality in a number of their songs, which no longer had such a resounding success.
The concentration of narcissism in the lyrics of the song reaches a critical point:
Every man wants to be a macho, macho man
To have the kind of body always in demand
Joggin’ in the mornings, go man go
Workouts in the health spa, muscles growYou can best believe me, he’s a macho man
Glad he took you down with anyone you can
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Paying attention to the fact that both the theme and the composition were warmly received by the public, the artists began to use the “Macho Man style” in their stage image, which became their trick. Sleeveless shirts, wide-brimmed hats, pumped muscles showing through the fabric of clothes, tight trousers and cowboy boots. It would seem that a little more and the stage costumes of the guys can be compared with the costumes of strippers in a nightclub. Although the musicians could not be called handsome, the skillful presentation of themselves on stage, as well as pleasant musical accompaniment, helped them win the love of the public for many years.
Interesting facts about the song
The musical hit turned out to be a breakthrough and took high positions not only in American, but in European music chats. In addition, in 1997, the composition sounded from the screens of cinemas in the tape filmed by Frank Oz “Enter and Exit”.
It is noteworthy that despite the worldwide fame of the hit, the musicians did not shoot a video for it. On the Internet, you can only find recordings from the live performances of the group, where they are dressed in costumes of workers, cowboys, policemen, Indians with an underlined sexualization of the image.
In addition to the US, the song broke into the music chats of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, where it occupied high places.
Interesting facts about the group
Over the long years of the existence of the musical group, the composition has changed many times, which prompted the appearance of “new characters” on the stage. Throughout the existence of the group, the musicians have tried on the images of “rescuers”, “marines”, “bikers” and even “cowboy”. Interestingly, despite all their antics, the musicians did not receive negative feedback from the public, presenting their entire performance as a joke.
To date, the group continues to officially exist, although for a long time it has not pleased fans with new singles. Despite the absence of concerts, they continue to give private corporate parties participation in festivals and love to interact with their fans through the official website and social networks. Musicians continue to need emotional support from their listeners just as fans need their music. The composition, which has undergone many changes, almost does not contain musicians from the original composition. The musicians who left the group are happily pursuing a solo career and are successful in narrow fan circles.
