992. VILLAGE PEOPLE, "Go West"
Produced by Henri Belolo; written by Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali, and Victor Willis
1979 Billboard: # 45
My favorite Village People song. Sure, the horn track could be recycled from "YMCA" or any of their other hits, but I like what this song stands for.
Yes, I like to camp it up as much as the next straight guy. Along with several other students at my high school back in the day, I frequently enjoyed singing an ersatz German translation of "Macho Man" (Maecho Mensch) in falsetto. But let's get real, people: anyone can goof around. It takes a real man to commit.
And that's what this song is about: sincerely committing, not just to a partner, but to a hopeful future beyond the giddy now. In my mind, this song is always linked to McFadden & Whitehead's "Ain't No Stopping Us Now," which came out the same year. Both songs are culminating anthems that celebrate the least ugly part of the 1970s, the drive to build a more open, tolerant, and diverse society.
No matter what comes after, hope like that is always something worth singing about . . .
