Marginalization is the one that sings best,” said the poet and playwright Antonio Gala to Jesús Quintero 35 years ago on television. The journalist asked him on his program ‘El perro verde’ why he thought there were so many homosexual poets, writers or filmmakers. It was 1988. Gala spoke of art as a channel to claim sexual orientation. «When homosexuality was reduced for a long time to that ghetto, to that marginalization, it has produced the psychology of the ghetto, it has awakened spirits, it has stirred up the complaint (…). What is flamenco if not a beautiful way of complaining?», he replied. More than three decades later, music as a form of artistic expression still does not equally represent the society in which we live. If you are not heterosexual, it will be difficult for you to find yourself represented in the stories that the greatest hits tell. Your experiences are not heard in bars or clubs.
It is not an opinion: the lists of great musical successes in Spain do not openly make love between people of the same sex visible. This editor has reviewed, one by one, the lyrics of the 500 songs (50 per year in the last ten) compiled by Promusicae to identify which male artists referred to men through pronouns or nouns and which female singers did the same to women.
Other LGTBI successes
Yes, before we heard these songs, other artists have managed to turn their lyrics into world hits with references to people of the same sex, but they don’t always manage to enter the Top 50. This is the case of the American Katy Perry with ‘I kissed a girl’ (2008).
«I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry lipstick
I kissed a girl just to try
I hope my boyfriend doesn’t mind.”
That year he also premiered ‘Ur so gay’ (‘You’re so gay’) directed, apparently, at a metrosexual boy. From woman to man, but with an LGTBI theme, which is unusual.
Kety Perry was followed by Lady Gaga with great songs that did reach the Spanish musical top as ‘poker face‘. Without being very explicit, it is a bisexual anthem throughout the world. In 2009 it was ranked 13th in the national ranking.
“Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, you can’t read my impassive face
(She has me like no one)»
…sings at the beginning of the song and after:
«I want to go out with him, we will be a tough couple
A little game of chance is fun when you’re with me (I love it)»
In 2011, Gaga presented another icon of the collective: ‘Born this way’.
“Don’t hide in regret
just love yourself and go
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born like this”
But not only them, the hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s sang ‘Same Love’ or Cardi B, in 2019, on her single money where he talks about a woman
In Spain, other artists are looking to break this barrier with their songs. Jimena Amarillo (2001) begins to sound in Spain with her “indie pop moñas”. Maybe cute but with a clear message like the one she expresses in ‘I just want more’:
“I don’t want you to be my raxeta
I want a movie and peta night
Tell me everything that’s in your head
While you alone fill the notebook »
Puto Chino Maricón (Chenta Tsai Tseng, 1990) is also a fighter against homophobia and racism in his songs. To name just a few.
Recipient not defined
The analysis of the 50 most listened to songs annually in Spain in the last decade also reflects the transformation of the industry. Latin music, artists who sing in Spanish, have prevailed against the Anglo-Saxon empire. And other revolts are lived.
The number of singles where it is not clear whether the recipient is a man or a woman was much higher ten years ago.
In this fashion of ambiguity we find songs by successful artists who, although they have acknowledged being gay or lesbian, have never sung using masculine or feminine pronouns. Although they have cornered the charts in the last decade. This is the case of Ricky Martin (1971) with ‘The little bite’in 2015 or with ‘Come here’ in 2016 and 2017.
Pablo Alborán (1989) follows the same line. In 2013 five of his singles swept Spain: ‘Who‘, ‘See you again’, ‘The kiss’, ‘So much’ and ‘I’ve missed you’. Addressee? Undefined. And that love is the great protagonist. 95% of the great hits that reach the most listened to this decade talk about present and past relationships, conquests, sex… heterosexual. There is still a long way to go to bring down the ghetto. Those who achieve it arouse that sensation of angry protest that Gala spoke of so many years ago.
The annual list of the most listened to songs of
Promusicae
used for this analysis include data submitted by physical retail partners and by Amazon Music, i-Tunes, 7Digital, Apple Music, Deezer Qobuz, Spotify, Napster, Tidal and Youtube. To carry out this report, a manual work has been done that sought to find answers to the representation of homosexuality in the music of the masses. To do this, the lyrics of each song included in the top 50 have been identified and categorized based on the references made by their lyrics. The categories are: ‘LGBT message or direct allusion from woman to woman or man to man’; ‘From man to woman’; ‘From woman to man’; ‘Recipient not defined’ and ‘Does not speak of love or relationships’. Please contact SIX if you feel there is something that has not been addressed.
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