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Sam Smith and the ‘gentle revolution’ of ‘My Guy’

▶ Watch Video: Sam Smith and the “gentle revolution” of “My Guy”

Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters, whose new book, “Mighty Real,” is a history of LGBTQ music, explains what a difference a word can make:

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Viking

When I hear love songs sung by straight men, I mentally switch the gender of their nouns so I can relate to what they’re singing about. This is what gay people do. Most hits aren’t designed for us, not even those by us.
Queer musical content ordinarily gets marginalized, unless it comes from a juggernaut like Sam Smith, a gay but mainstream and multi-million-record-selling Brit.

Unlike “Unholy,” Smith’s 2022 chart-topper with Kim Petras, there’s nothing confrontational about his new single, “My Guy.”
The reason why I’m mentioning it is its simple use of a masculine noun to denote a same-sex relationship. For someone of Smith’s fame, that’s news. LGBTQ pop is rarely this straightforward.

Little Richard helped invent rock ‘n’ roll by being nearly nonsensical. Then, David Bowie made serious art out of complex gender provocation. Rebels like them are usually those with the least to lose.

That’s how it was at the Stonewall Inn 57 years ago, when butch gals, nelly boys, and drag queens got fed up with hostile New York cops. They fought back.

This summer, Sam Smith fights back with a hit-worthy ballad where one little repeated noun makes a big advancement.

To hear Sam Smith performs “My Guy” click on the video player below:

You can dream it all that you want, but you can’t have my boy
You can’t have him you can try try try
A breath of fresh air, a rose on the vine
Oh, I could just stare at him all the time time time
He’s my guy

Revolution has never sounded so gentle.

READ AN EXCERPT: “Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000” by Barry Walters

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Story produced by John Goodwin. Editor: Ed Givnish. 

Nearly 1 year after Annunciation shooting, Fletcher Merkel memorialized with lakeside fishing bench

By CNN
Click here for updates on this story    MINNESOTA (WCCO) -- When Fletcher Merkel's family moved into the Kenny neighborhood in south Minneapolis, neighbors told him he wouldn't have much luck casting his fishing line at Grass Lake. He proved them wrong, which his mother said is a constant reminder of his perseverance and passion. Mollie Merkel said that one day last summer, 8-year-old Fletcher caught a bullhead catfish. Mollie said it was "disgusting," but Fletcher didn't care. He paraded that fish around the neighborhood in a bucket. Mollie shared that story with around one hundred of her neighbors in the Kenny neighborhood on Tuesday evening. She joined the Kenny Neighborhood Association in unveiling a bench that overlooks Grass Lake, designed to honor her son. Fletcher and 10-year-old Harper Moyski died in the mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis last August. The bench is positioned so that the sunset is clearly visible in the evening, a daily event that Mollie says reminds her of Fletcher. The inscription references Fletcher's bullhead catch, reading, in part, "For the boy who proved there are fish in Grass Lake." "Fletcher would have loved sitting here, but mostly, we would have loved running around it," Mollie said, drawing laughter from the crowd, "but we used to watch the birds and the ducks here." Barbara Brady, chair of the Kenny Neighborhood Association, said that she and her team reached out to the Merkel family last fall to see what kind of memorial they could aim to set up in Fletcher's honor. Once they settled on a bench, at one of Fletcher's favorite spots, they raised $3,000 to make it happen. "Everyone swung into action and the neighbors are just amazing for the Merkels," Brady said. "People were bringing them food for months, anything they wanted; we were there for them." Mollie said that she was happy to see some of Fletcher's friends be among the first to make use of the bench, which is now in place just ahead of the one-year marker since the shooting. "We hope that this bench can be a place for calm and reflection," Mollie said. Earlier this summer, the Merkels started what they hope will be an annual event on Lake Harriet to teach kids how to fish and raise money for scholarships at Annunciation.Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
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