How do you describe a feeling?

I will always love Kylie Minogue.

Simply Wow.

While I may have a strangely broad range of music in my collection, my appreciation of her music used to be something that I had to keep private.  Partly because I wasn't quite out of the closet back then and partly because I didn't want to "share her", I used to catch Kylie's music videos on tv or hear her songs and without any outward signs, enjoy the experience of hearing her sing to me once again.  Being three years younger than my brother in the height of the 80s, I was pretty much expected to like the things he did.  When he was deeply into The Cure, I had to get into them as well.  When Depeche Mode and A-ha sang their songs, I bobbed my head and swayed my fists to the beat.  So when it came to Kylie songs and a few other Madonna tunes, I treated them as secret songs that I alone relished.

I did that for a few years.

There was I time I wanted to marry you, Tori.

There weren't much friends in my younger years who liked Kylie songs.  As strange as it may sound, even by the time college came around, I knew far more people who loved Tori Amos than I did people who loved Kylie.   Having a group that shared my love for Tori, I did in many ways gravitate more towards her music and soon ended up with both a ticket to watch her concert in Los Angeles, a video copy of her concert and unplugged performance, an $80 dollar Venus Envy pendant, and a number of her music cds.     As to Kylie, I only had my memories of her duet with Kermit the Frog and a silent joy in my heart every time I'd hear the Locomotion play.

Thankfully, all that has changed now.

Kylie is back in my life and even better, my partner shares a strong passion for her songs as well.  While other artist like Pink, Ke$sha, Rhianna or Robyn might come up with their own dance-throbbing tunes, I always found myself struggling to completely enjoy their songs particularly because of the kind of message they espouse.

I sense a conflict between message and image.

Take for instance, Pink's "Raise your Glass":

So raise your glass if you are wrong

in all the right ways, all my underdogs

we will never be anything but loud

and nitty gritty dirty little freaks

won't you come on and raise your glass!

I don't grasp the pride and joy in being different in her lyrics.  I know the message is there, but I don't feel it the way I do in other songs.  Ultimately, as fun as the song is to dance to, I struggle to embrace what Pink wants to celebrate in a song here.  Her music video, thankfully, pushes more the message that I love to hear from her.  I guess I just wish I could feel it from her song.  Different strokes I guess.

I go through the same trouble with Rihanna songs and the rest of them.  While I do understand the emotional strength of a song that channels out anger or discontent (again, I am a huge Tori Amos fan too) I don't get the need to always embrace such negativity and try to make it sound cool.  Especially when the said artist presents herself as Rock rather than Goth and so on and so forth.  It is all a performance.  It is all just an image.  It isn't about singing from the heart.  It feels like its all about singing for the paycheck.

While I admire Gaga for being creative, she has been sorely lacking in being much more original.

Kylie, on the other hand, sings with the campiness of a fag hag who loves her gay audience.  She sings of beauty and being wonderful in all ways one can be.  She sings of heart break but quickly reminds you that you deserve better and you shouldn't just be some drama queen.  She sings of love and celebrates its power as real and beautiful.

Rocky, DJ Symon and Me
(Clearly Rocky and I have had a fair amount of beer by then)

It is such a huge plus for me that my favorite haunt, O bar, has a DJ who understands my love for Kylie and how much Rocky and I love to dance to her songs.  Already there was a time the DJ mixed a series of Kylie songs just for us and made sure to let us know it was meant for us when he played it.   (Thanks again DJ Symon!)   It is interesting how Katy Perry seemingly is on the road of moving in the same direction as Kylie.  I can only wonder though when there would be more people who would learn to look past fluff and hype and appreciate good songs the way they are meant to be.

Already counting the days til Gaga copies even THIS look.

But then again, until that day happens, I don't care if only Rocky and I cheer out loud the moment a Kylie song is played in O bar.   After all, sometimes you do want to keep special things all to yourself and your partner.  Heck Kylie already has a song that captures this!

And it goes like this:

DJ's spinning up my favorite song,

Hurry up and get a grove on.

Light fantastic and it won't be long,

Don't let the moment slip away.

'Cause you and I could find a pleasure, no one else has ever known.

Feels like it is now or never, don't want to be alone

How does it feel in my arms?

How does it feel in my arms?

Do you want it?

Do you need it?

Can you feel it?

Tell me.

How does it feel in my arms?

Keep singing, dancing and spreading the love, Kylie!
You make the world a far better, lovelier, musical place!




For the curious, here is my list of my favorite Kylie songs:

• Locomotion
• Give just a little more time
• Especially for you
• Cant get you out of my head
• Wow
• More more more
• Come into my world
• Fever
• In my Arms
• All the lovers
• Get out of my way