The Tangled Branch Discussion Forums

I Love The Village People

live in a senior community,
we dance in the party room until 6pm
to 70s disco music,
I can do the chorography to YMCA
and shake my ass to Love Train.

I'd skip the pot luck
and dance till 9
but everyone else wants time to discuss
Delta Dental and Medicare plans.

What can I do?
Ever seen a seventy-five-year-old
at a rave? Do they even have them anymore?
I still relate to Gloria Gaynor may she R.I.P.
Don't know how much longer
I will survive but, damn it,
I want to go out dancing.

Oh I love this. It's fun and lighthearted, yet w a strength throughout. Especially enjoy the freshness, each word carefully placed and doing its thing. Enjoyed!

Best,
Sharon

Ok, having lived through that period I can't share your love for The Village People. You couldn't walk five feet or go five minutes, damn you couldn't even turn on the TV without hearing that damn song when it was a hit

But, I do like the poem. I agree with Sharon: there's strength under the playfulness that is potent and appealing. Love the Gloria Gaynor reference, it's well placed and effective.

For a later reference from Men Without Hats: You Can Dance if You Want to!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPau5QYtYs

Thank you so much for your kind words Sharon.

Marc--obviously you didn't hear YMCA enough or you would now experience a Pavlovian response --picking up your feet and flailing your arms with wild and wonderful abandon.

Thanks for your read and comments

Loved and laughed at this. 
I trust you haven't located in one of these communities yet...no disrespect to any of our members (Tracy) who has retired 
May we all grow old disgracefully.

Hi Colm, thanks for the read--glad it made you laugh

You have probably read the comment I often make--poetry is truth but not necessarily fact. I live in a house located in an area for people 55 and older. There is no club house, no party room, no dances or pot lucks--I made that up.  I do Zumba at the gym though. 

There are such things as senior centers and senior dances----I wouldn't be caught dead----

Confession: I've been walking around with a headset on listening to retro disco lately--it sounds better to me now than it did then

 

I've been listening to the Police, Pretenders, Ramones, Blondie, and lots of the Cars lately.  Don't know how I missed them first time around, other than for the time burdens of parenting back then.  And yes, Indar they do sound different now.  But The Village People?  Not yet for me, though my kids still laugh and spell out things.  

The other nice connect in this poem is that back when the media liked to describe a hotbed of counter-culture in Greenwich Village, they referred to the inhabitants, on occasion, as Village People.  And one supposes that the surviving Village People from the late '60's and early 70's may now be in the senior centers this poem alludes to.  Not the thrust of your poem, I know. But it is there.

I most love the N's ass shaking to Love Train, as she outlives Gloria Gaynor, complains about the others not wanting to dance until 9:00, and expressing the desire to keep dancing - a closing which feels inevitable.  I think we all fall in love with your Narrator.

Wonderful poeming.

T

 

 

As long as you're happy Linda, anywhere is good. 
Love the bands (from my youth) that Tom has discovered 

drab - bands from your youth?  I imagined Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, and Duke Ellington.

Indar - sorry for the temporary hijack.

Cheers.

Benny, Jimmy and Duke?
Never even heard of these Christian names   Assuming they are real names?
Looks like we're going to have fun here