Cosmo Jarvis Isn't a Gay Pirate. He Just Plays One in His Amazing New Video! | AfterElton.com
An interview with Cosmo Jarvis about his intentions with his song “Gay Pirates.” I’m intrigued by stories of straight people who dip into queer issues.
CJ: So the music is presented the way it is so if it’s played in a bar and there is somebody in the bar who likes the music and gets into it because it’s a sea shanty and you can get people stomping around. The idea was that people in the audience might be the people who think like that [that being gay is bad] and might get into the music before they get into the story of the song so that before they know it they are dancing around and they are being enthusiastic about the song and then when they realize what it’s about, they have no excuse not to continue dancing with the same enthusiasm.
AE: I love that idea. That’s wonderful. It’s very subversive.
CJ: It’s happened. You get the hordes of teenage guys, drinking beer, stomping around, singing the chorus of the song. It’s a good thing for me to hear them singing it because they’re singing about this guy who’s endured terrible hardships, and they’re singing it like it was any other song about love that people would sing. I just wanted to write something with the same compassion and the same style of writing, and the same honesty, but it was just about a gay dude.
