Men

It's been a day of ebay madness today.

You can tell I'm Scottish. It's five pence a throw today, so I went in, head first, and I've now got seventy items up for sale. I'll do anything for a bargain. Yes, anything.

Late into the evening, and with Cher in my lap, well, two of her CDs, anyway, I found myself putting Strong Enough up for sale. It's a two CD set, if you're curious. I play all the CDs before putting them up for sale, just in case they're duffers. I needn't have worried tonight though. Not a duffer in sight. But there were other surprises! I found that Sylvia Mason James, whom Pet Shop Boys often use as a backing singer, is the backing singer on Strong Enough! How fabulous is that!?

The most fabulous surprise of the night, though, was this... One of the mixes of Strong Enough is called male version. It's been a very long time since I played it, and was curious as to what a male version of the song could be. Was Cher singing in bass or baritone? Did she wear a suit and tie while recording it? Was Cher actually a man? The answer to all of these questions, is, no. Sadly.

Here's the answer. This is the opening segment of the standard version of the song:

I don't need your sympathy
There's nothing you can say or do for me
And I don't want a miracle
You'll never change for no-one

I hear your reasons why
Where did you sleep last night?
And was she worth it, was she worth it?

And this is the opening segment of the male version:

I don't need your sympathy
There's nothing you can say or do for me
And I don't want a miracle
You'll never change for no-one

I hear your reasons why
Where did you sleep last night?
And was he worth it, was he worth it?

Yes, that's right. Cher's lover has run off with a man!

Of course, this begs the question, is Cher's lover a man who's run off with a man or a woman who's run off with a man? And why would Cher record this male version? Does any of this matter?

Probably not.

So, why would Cher record a different version of her hit song, changing the she to a he? Pandering to her army of gay fans? I don't know. But I expect so.

There's another song where women sing about their lover running off with a man. Look at the lyrics of Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, sung, most notably, by The Supremes (post Ross) and Bananarama (during the Fahey days):

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
He'll never love you, the way that I love you
'Cause if he did, no no, he wouldn't make you cry
He might be thrillin' baby but a-my love (my love, my love)
So dog-gone willin'
So kiss him (I wanna see you kiss him, wanna see you kiss him)
Go on and kiss him goodbye

Na na na na, hey hey-hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Listen to me now
He's never near you to comfort and cheer you
When all those sad tears are fallin' baby from your eyes
He might be thrillin' baby but a-my love (my love, my love)
So dog-gone willin'
So kiss him (I wanna see you kiss him. I wanna see you kiss him)
Go on and kiss him goodbye

Na-na na-na-na na na na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Hey hey-hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye

What's it all about?

Secret coded messages of support for the gay community? I don't think so. It's not exactly pro-man-on-man-love-action is it, moaning about some person, we presume to be male, running off with a bloke...!?

Help!

It's also been discussed here.

I try to make sense of it, but I don't get anywhere. What do YOU think?