Mika asks, “Where have all the Gay Guys Gone?”

Mika has always been a performer and singer I love to hear about.  I think his creativity is right on point and many times so inspirational.  His latest song "Good Guys" is just that.  As we do with songs, we listen and interpret on an individual level.  Some songs we find so moving in one direction, when the singer actually had something else in mind.  This is what happened to me in regard to Mika's "Good Guys."

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In his song, Mika uses the phrase gay guys and later replaces it with good guys.

At the start of new track Good Guys, the out singer questions: “Don’t be offended, this might seem a little wrong… but where have all the gay guys gone?”

Speaking to Gay.com, Mika explained the meaning behind the song, lamenting the disappearance of his gay role models.

 He said: “I found myself in very big business—commercial sessions in big studios my first week of writing for the album. I looked around and said, ‘My god, you guys basically write most of the pop music in the world.’

“And they were all eating takeout, two of them had just been to the gym, and I looked at them a minute and said, ‘That’s great, but… where have all the gay guys gone?’

“They looked at me kind of blank-faced. But really, where have they all gone in the tin-pan alley part of pop music—the writing and the production? I found it funny. They didn’t find it funny at all.

“As I sat down to write, I thought about that conversation and realized it wasn’t as jokey or as dumb as it sounded. It was almost like a message to myself. Where are the people that inspired me when I was 15-years-old, all these heroes that I held up so high? – pinknews.co.uk

He is referring to many of his childhood heroes “dressed up in gold” who inspired him growing up, including David Bowie, James Dean, poet Walt Whitman, French writer Jean Cocteau, and songwriter Cole Porter. – newnownext.com

“Where are they now? Why can’t I truly dare to be like them? How do I capture that?

“How do I be in the canon of those men that truly lived their lives without feeling consequences even if they had to deal with them?

“It was an exciting moment for me thinking, Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll go there. Let me try to be like the person I always wished I’d have the courage to be when I was younger.

“The answer is not the objective; It’s the process of asking and the self-confrontation.”

  He also spoke about gay singers who fail to mention sexuality in their lyrics to adopt a broader appeal.

He said: “[Historically] music has been one of the few places where, even with an intolerant society, there’s been freedom of expression.

“Now, from a media perspective, it’s a different thing. Within mainstream media, the ideal is a non-reactivity and not even a mention.

“So, no matter the sexuality or the sex that a singer is singing about in a love song for example, it will not affect the format that the song will fall into—it will not infringe upon any part of one’s commercial success or exposure.” – pinknews.co.uk

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It seems Mika is looking for those good and gay guys that are like his role models when he was growing up.  Do you agree with him and his song?  Is there a lessening of gay musical and cultural icons that don't worry about their personal / sexual image.  Are there less performers that don't give a hoot about public opinion or if sales are lessened due to people disagreeing with their sexual orientation?

So that's one way to take Mika's song, where are all the gays / good guys?

 

 

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As mentioned, we all interpret songs differently than the singer intended and many times differently than our friends.  Here's my interpretation of Mika's "Good Guys."

If I had watched this video 24 hours ago I probably would have been in tears of agreement.  Where have all the good guys gone?  The first handful of times that Mika sings the chorus, he uses the words, where have all the gay guys gone?  That was the question I asked myself when living in a small New England City.  For a city of 66,000 citizens, it had a nice and welcoming gay community, but it was small and everyone knew everyone. That was good, but it also had its drawbacks for the dating scene was not the best. Once you weeded through the personal negatives (coupled and playing, smokers, drug users, daddies, ones looking for sugar daddies, and ones your friends told you to stay away from), the options were low.  I know I'm preaching to the choir for its like this in every small town in America.  What's the solution? I thought I would try my hand at a bigger city, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  In one of the gay meccas of the country, I should have better luck, no? 

Since I moved here about 2 years ago, there have been a couple of dates and about that many physical interactions, but nothing exceptional came of them.  My last horrific heart failure was latching on to someone that had interest in me, a bisexual married (to a woman for citizenship) man that was also in a long distance relationship with another man. Yep, SMH indeed.  I could have had a messed up relationship like this in any town USA.  If I'm truly in a gay mecca, why couldn't I find a good guy?

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Well, I'd like to thank Dean, Justin, and Charles for chatting last night. It was great to meet some of the good guys that are out there.  As mentioned, if I had listened to this song 24 hours ago, I would have been in agreement ad most likely overly emotional.  It's hard when you made a move for the better and the better hasn't happened and you don't think it ever will.  Meeting those three guys last night and just having a great time chatting showed me that there is some promise as well as some good guys out there.  There most likely won't be any dates coming out of our chats, but hey, baby steps.

So thanks Mika for the double entendre song.  I definitely see your stance, but I as well see my take on your song, too.