It's Fun To Stay At The Y.M.C.A.

I was reading the news at the MSNBC site the nother night when this headline caught my attention: "Village Person Donates 'Y.M.C.A.' Record To Indian Museum."  Of course, I was intrigued and had to read all about it.  True to the headling, Felipe Rose, bettern known as the Indian from The Village People, donated his gold record of "Y.M.C.A." to the National Museum Of The American Indian."  Felipe is part Lakota Sioux.

Felipe couldn't attend the opening of the museum last September because the Village People were on tour with Cher, but he wanted to contribute.  So he called the museum and asked if they wanted his gold record.  At the ceremony at the museum last week, a Lakota prayer was sung and then everyone did the "Y.M.C.A." dance. 

I'm guessing the muesum accepted the gold record in case they might need an artifact of bygone era, perhaps to create an exhibit on the disco era, and the Native American responses to it.  It makese sense to me - there are only so many clay pots, arrowheads, headdresses and Kachina dolls that people can stand to look at.  So when the day comes that someone asks, "Hey, what about the Indian from the Village People?" the Smithsonian will be ready.

"Y.M.C.A." was the Village People's biggest hit.  But I don't think they had a clue how big the song would become after the disco had died down.  In the early 90s, DJs started playing "Y.M.C.A." again, and people were dancing to it at wedding receptions, bar mitzvahs, and sports events all across the country.  The song itself is folklore.  People set their drinks down when the song is played at bars, so they can spell out "YMCA" without spilling their drinks.  Senior citizens spell out "YMCA." as part of their exercise programs. Stadiums full of tens of thousands of game watchers enthusiastically wave their arms as they spell out "YMCA" as it's played during a break over the loudspeakers.