Rob Frydlewicz: The Gay Subtext of a Popular Song from the 1950's

We've all probably seen the TV infomercials advertising Time-Life Records' various music compilations, e.g. "Love Songs", "Groovy 60's", "Mellow Moods". I've bought a number of them, and am glad I did, because they introduced me to some great songs. One in particular was Secretly by Jimmie Rodgers. It entered Billboard's Top 40 in the middle of May 1958 and became a #3 hit that summer.

It's a pleasant tune, typical of so many songs from this vanilla decade, but what got my attention was its gender-neutral lyrics. In my interpretation the song tells the story of two men who, due to the mores of the 1950's, must conduct their romance "secretly". Here's the chorus:

Wish we didn't have to meet secretly

Wish we didn't have to kiss secretly

Wish we didn't have to be afraid to show the world that we're in love

'Til we have the right to meet openly

'Til we have the right to kiss openly

We'll just have to be content to be in love secretly.

Of course, these lyrics could also apply to a West Side Story situation between a boy and girl of different races or ethnicities. Still, I thought the hidden message was a bit daring for the conformist 1950's. I'm curious whether the song was popular with homosexuals at the time.

Of course, there have been other gender neutral songs such as Secret Love by Doris Day and the Beatles' Do You Want to Know a Secret? but their lyrics don't have an air of illicitness to them. One that does, however, is a disco classic by Madleen Kane, Forbidden Love, from 1979. The song opens with Kane singing, "How can you stop a trembling hand, reaching for another hand, even though it is forbidden love?"

For more posts this, Rob also has a blog called ZeitGayst

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