"Gay Bar" is a song by American rock band Electric Six. Written by band member Tyler Spencer, under the pseudonym Dick Valentine, it was released in June 2003 as the second single from their debut studio album, Fire. While both the song and music video received significant airplay, lyrics mentioning war were edited due to their possibly offensive nature since the song made its air debut at the start of the Iraq War.
Background and writing
According to Spencer/Valentine, the idea for the song came up from incorrectly hearing the lyrics of DEVO's "Girl U Want" as "it's just a girl, it's just a girl at a gay bar" while the song was playing in a very loud nightclub.
Censorship
In the censored version of the song, the words "nuclear" and "war" are cut out and a whip lash sound is used instead. A radio version in Japan exists in which the same lyrics are replaced with "let's do an edit, do a radio edit".
Music video
The music video, directed by Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire, was recorded in April 2003 at a movie studio in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The video depicts a series of Abraham Lincoln look-alikes in the White House, portrayed primarily by the band's lead singer Dick Valentine, but stand-ins were used for some scenes. Various phallic images appear throughout the video, such as a bell, a train entering a tunnel, a hamster running through a tube, and so on.
Awards
The song was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. It also won Video of the Year award from both Kerrang and Q magazine.
Track listing
CD
"Gay Bar"
"Don't Be Afraid of the Robot"
"Take Off Your Clothes"
DVD
"Gay Bar" video
"Gay Bar "
"Rock Show"
7"
"Gay Bar"
"The Living End"
Charts
Legacy
The band recorded "Gay Bar Part Two", a sequel to this song, for their album Flashy. The song was less of a direct sequel, opting instead to satirise their annoyance caused by people demanding a follow-up song as well as troubles with their previous record label demanding that they record "another Gay Bar".
The band performed the song on their first live albumAbsolute Pleasure.
The band performed the song in their live concert movie Absolute Treasure.
musician Peaches covered the song as a bonus track for her album Fatherfucker. The Bosshoss played a cover of the song during their 2010 "Low Voltage" tour. A studio version was released on their album Stallion Battalion. British comedy duoArmstrong & Miller parodied the "Gay Bar" in their series promotional video for BBC One television.
