Viral Vid: "California Gays" -- It Was Inevitable



Straight Guy,

I am woefully behind on pop culture -- you were supposed to be tutoring me. I am apparently the last person to hear Katy Perry's summer song scorcher "California Gurls." Who knew?

Perry says she was inspired to write the song from "a girl's perspective." That is to say that the California girls of song so far exist primarily . . . or only . . . in the imagination of men. To understate my opinion, I doubt that Perry has come up with an original theory, but I am happy to blame the Beach Boys for anything that will stick to them.

The Daily Beasts Maura Johnston offers this delicious point of view on the song:
"Lyrically, 'Gurls' certainly comes from the point of view of a certain type of young woman—she's perpetually raring to go, dressed in a bikini top and a pair of ass-hugging shorts so as to maximize the display of her "sun-kissed skin [that will] melt your popsicle."
Go, Maura! That's one hell of a sentence!

Anyway, it was inevitable, you knew it was coming -- a queer lip-dub take-off vid, "California Gays." It mimics "Gurls" right down to the East Coast-West Coast rivalry that is the partial inspiration for Perry's song. Reminds me of last year's "Party in the USA (Fire Island)" take on the Miley Cyrus summer pop chart eater.

SG, does "California Gurls" get the women in your house popping this summer?

--Gay Guy

Thanks, GG. But did you just take a cheap shot at the Beach Boys? Not cool. They are eternal.

I'm mixed on the song. Great hook. Crappy lyrics. The official video is a hot, hot mess, by the way. Snoop Dogg in a psychedelic/erotic Candy Land fantasy?

Not a family-friendly song, what with all the "sex on the beach" and "freakin' in the Jeep." But, outside the dad zone, this straight guy kind of digs Katy Perry's wide-eyed and retro Vargas girl style.

As to the California Gays video: One website called it "the gayest thing you'll see all year." And even given my exposure to gay culture on this blog, I might have to agree. It seems much more aggressive than last year's Miley Cyrus lip dub. But then again, so is the source material. Glad they had fun, though.

I still love LA (when I get the chance). But now I have to lose 20 pounds before I hit the beach. Damn you, California Gays!

--Straight Guy

4 comments:

Oddyoddyo13 said...

GG, I totally agree with the "only to be expected" deal. I mean COME ON, it was just asking for it. Loved the video-made me laugh so hard, especially the looks on their faces as the east coast guys got "run over". Priceless.

SG, when you quoted the lyrics, I totally imagined the sarcastic, deep voiced, "dad" voice. Hilarious.

SteveA said...

The GG video is hgood, funny - I like it - love how those guys dance.

But on the song itself - yawn! It seems to have been at #1 for forever - and it is growing on me - damn you pop song with your catchy chorus that's stuck in my head - ugggghhhhh!

Straight Guy said...

Looks like we've lost some comments here, mine included. I'll look into it.

Many apologies if you've tried to respond.

kathryn said...

I thought the video was cute! Someone took some time to do some decent choreographing....it wasn't just a bunch of guys humping each other...and I agree w/Dani...the scene when East Coast got hit by the car...the dramatic, 'Oh no, they didn't!' was priceless.

Honestly, I haven't seen the original (gal) version. I guess I'm as clueless as GG. So, SG: Add me to the list of ppl to be notified of...everything!

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