May 2007
MUSIC TO BE PROUD OF
By DJ Mark Bisson
With Long Beach Pride this month, I thought it might be fun to spotlight some dance songs about pride. Obviously, pride means different things to different people. When I think of the term pride, and its association with parades and festivals, I think of acceptance. Not just acceptance by others, but especially accepting oneself. First and foremost, we must accept and love ourselves before we can ever give (or accept) love from anyone else. One of my favorite lines, from a song called “Love Will Find A Way” by Vernessa Mitchell, is “how can you love somebody else when you haven’t even learned to love yourself”. I actually played that song during my Pride set last year. Probably one of the most well known pride songs of all time is “I Am What I Am” from the 1973 play and 1978 movie La Cage Aux Folles. This song, recorded by Gloria Gaynor (among others), has become a pride anthem and includes the lyrics “one life so it’s time to open up your closet, life’s not worth a damn ‘til you can say, hey world, I am what I am”. Heather Small penned one of the more recent pride anthems in 2000 entitled “Proud”. The lyrics “you could be so many people, if you make that break for freedom. What have you done today to make you feel proud?” are incredibly inspiring. Probably the greatest pride song of all time would have to be “I Was Born This Way”. This song was recorded in 1977 by out African-American gospel singer and Minister Reverend Carl Bean. Some of the lyrics are “I’ve learned to hold my head up high, not in scorn nor disgrace, doin’ my thing individually, entwined with this human race. Now I won’t judge you, don’t you judge me; we’re all the way nature made us to be. I’m happy, I’m carefree and I’m gay, I was born this way”. Even by today’s standards, those lyrics are pretty progressive. What is so great about all of these songs is the emphasis placed on self-acceptance, which should be first and foremost. So, before you expect others to accept you, learn to love your gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, (and even straight) self!
Be sure and come hear my pride set at the Long Beach Festival Main Dance Stage on Sunday May 20th from 2-3:30pm. You can also listen to recordings of some of my previous pride sets on the Live Mixes page on my website at www.djmarkbisson.com. Happy Pride everyone!
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