But it's gay

July 11, 2022 11:12 AM

Baby It's Cold Outside, but it's gay. Jolene but it's gay. I'm Not That Girl but it's gay. [playlist]
posted by simmering octagon (26 comments total)

Baby It's Cold Outside, but it's gay

I'm sorry, is Rufus Wainwright nothing to you?
posted by ominous_paws at 11:21 AM on July 11, 2022 [11 favorites]

I like how the ladies changed some of the more...ah... problematic lyrics for "Baby It's Cold Outside"
posted by Paladin1138 at 11:43 AM on July 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

I was expecting Jolene more along the lines of the Lil Nas X version -- same song, just with a gender switch on the singer. This was an unexpected surprise. Very neatly rewritten.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:53 AM on July 11, 2022 [6 favorites]

Another gay Jolene (White Stripes)
posted by praemunire at 12:22 PM on July 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Baby It's Cold Outside but it's Guy Love.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 1:05 PM on July 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

The best gender-swapped version: The Sisters of Mercy ~ Jolene, from when so long ago that Dolly Parton was not considered cool.
posted by happyinmotion at 1:54 PM on July 11, 2022

Sorry but this is what springs to mind when I read the words "Jolene but it's gay"
posted by potrzebie at 2:37 PM on July 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

YMCA, but it's straight.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:58 PM on July 11, 2022 [6 favorites]

Damnit now "Gay Dean" is stuck in my head. I know from bitter experience it's all I'll think of in idle moments for the next week and a half
posted by potrzebie at 3:40 PM on July 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

These rewrites are good! The lyrics don't sound shoehorned in.

Jake Blount's queering of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" came to mind. It's quite good.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:47 PM on July 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

so long ago that Dolly Parton was not considered cool

I know what all of those words mean, but not when you use them together like that. Dolly Parton has always been cool, and I don't think a gay reading of her is a fresh take. For example, on the "Jolene" cover, I agree with one of the YouTube commenters: "she did it, i thought it was impossible, but she made jolene more gay"

Jolene (Bardcore | Medieval Style)
posted by kirkaracha at 4:02 PM on July 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

I Kissed A Girl (Katy Perry) but actually delightfully queer.
posted by needs more cowbell at 5:07 PM on July 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

Old school:
The Flirtations (the gay men’s a cappella group from late ‘80s to late ‘90s)
I Kissed a Girl (the Jill Sobule song from 1995)
posted by eviemath at 5:31 PM on July 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Jolene was always already gay.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:40 PM on July 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Obligatory 45 rpm Parton Jolene slowed to 33 rpm.
posted by bartleby at 6:51 PM on July 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

Michael is a woman's name in France right? Let me check the video to see for sure.


How will I know but the gender changes mid-song, and then becomes an Elvis impersonation?
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:36 PM on July 11, 2022

This made my Monday, thank you! Rainaeiry has a beautiful voice and her lyric changes are deft. I also like her covering-this-just-cause song choices, like Hellfire and Never Gonna Give You Up.
posted by mersen at 8:03 PM on July 11, 2022

Kurt & Blaine from Glee duet on Baby It's Cold Outside
posted by jonp72 at 9:25 PM on July 11, 2022

Dolly Parton has always been cool, and I don't think a gay reading of her is a fresh take.

After all, the narrator of Jolene sings more rapturously about Jolene's looks than about the male partner she's purportedly afraid of losing.
posted by jonp72 at 9:28 PM on July 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Male version of Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man from Love Is A Drag LP
Novelty gay version of Wild Thing from Teddy and Darrell
Lavender Country, Back in the Closet Again, gay rewrite of Gene Autry's "Back in the Saddle Again"
The Communards, Never Can Say Goodbye
Suzi Quatro, I Wanna Be Your Man
Jayne County, Man I Feel Like A Woman (Shania Twain cover!)
BeeJays, My Boyfriend's Back
Paul Parker, Pushin' Too Hard
posted by jonp72 at 10:28 PM on July 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

Fancy, but it's trans (Orville Peck)
posted by dnash at 6:20 AM on July 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

Jolene but it's gay

Surely that would be Joe Lean?
posted by Grangousier at 7:28 AM on July 12, 2022

Novelty gay version of Wild Thing

A bit meh for me, but the album cover has strong Tyhmens & Saperstein energy.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:53 AM on July 12, 2022

Is it possible that no one has yet posted Stacy's Dad?
posted by Jeanne at 2:21 PM on July 12, 2022 [4 favorites]

Gay Punk + Phil Spector = And Then He Kissed Me
posted by bartleby at 8:01 PM on July 12, 2022

Audra Miller sings Teenage Dirtbag
posted by bartleby at 8:45 PM on July 12, 2022 [2 favorites]