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Father’s Day
On June 18, when fathers across the nation enjoy gifts and cards from their loved ones, most will be unaware that they are celebrating a holiday imagined by a grateful daughter and begun at a YMCA.
For a day of their own, fathers owe special thanks to a young woman named Sonora Louise Smart. In 1909, at a YMCA in Spokane, Washington, this dedicated daughter honored her father by calling for an annual Father’s Day.
The inspiration came to Ms. Smart while listening to a sermon celebrating Mother’s Day. She thought of her father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, who had raised her and five brothers after their mother died in childbirth. Smart thought of honoring fathers with religious services, special meals, small gifts and roses. She shared her idea with local religious leaders meeting at the Spokane YMCA, who agreed, passing a resolution to observe a Father’s Day. The Spokane YMCA sponsored the first celebration on June 19, 1910, the month of William Smart’s birthday. The Father’s Day idea spread rapidly, and in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge called for a national observance.
Today, fathers are coaches, teachers, role models and confidants, a much different job description from the one in Sonora’s day! Today’s fathers take a much more active role in raising their children, joining family activity nights, volunteering with their kids, arranging child care and participating in one-on-one programs. Fathers deserve this day of recognition more than ever before. And they deserve all the support that the YMCA and other community-based organizations can give them.
According to the 2000 Census, more than 2 million men are primary caregivers to their children, and as many as 20% of them are stay-at-home dads. The number of fathers who are primary caregivers has quadrupled since 1970 when the Census Bureau recorded less than one-half million fathers raising their children alone.
Sonora Louise Smart Dodd died at the age of 96 but her legacy lives on. A monument to Ms. Smart’s holiday stands at the Spokane YMCA.
The Village People and the YMCA Song
(more than you ever wanted to know)
The Village People, one of the most successful disco groups from the late 1970s, was created in 1977 by French record producer and composer, Jacques Morali. The group was named after New York’s gay district in Greenwich Village. It is believed that the group was designed to attract gay audiences while parodying some of the stereotypes found in the gay community. As everyone knows by now, the group was made up of "macho men," including a cop, a construction worker, a cowboy, a biker, a Native American and a soldier.
- The group rode the disco wave in the late 1970s with several big hits, including the YMCA song, which was released in 1978 and reached number two on the pop charts. The song has remained a favorite for more than 20 years and was recently remixed for the millennium. The YMCA song remains a staple for all kind of events, including weddings, bar mitzvahs and baseball games.
- Originally considered an anthem for the gay community, the song has long been popular with people from all walks of life. It’s become the most frequently performed song at sporting events in the U.S. The Village People themselves think of it as a song for everyone to enjoy and dance to using the well-known arm movements that spell out the letters Y-M-C-A. In 1999, Ray Simpson, the group’s original lead singer, said that he saw "children and housewives and everyone enjoying that song. We don’t want to exclude anybody . . . we want to include everybody." If you haven’t danced to the song yourself, you probably know someone who has, that’s how popular the song is and how widely it’s played.
- The Village People got back together in the 1990s and are performing in venues around the world. Their 20th anniversary tour took them to Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall in New York City. In 1999, they visited the London Central YMCA and signed a guitar that’s shaped like the YMCA triangle. Other signers of the guitar? Phil Collins, BB King, and Elton John—pretty good company for a disco group.
Some people still believe that YMCA of the USA sued the Village People on January 13, 1979, because the song violated trademark. This just isn’t true, but the rumor still gets play in radio station trivia contests and is floating around the Internet. BMI (the American performing rights organization that represents more than 250,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers) holds the licensing rights to the song.
The YMCA Song Lyrics
Depending on who performs it, running time is anywhere from 3½ to 4 minutes.
- Young man, there’s no need to feel down.
I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground.
I said, young man, ‘cause you’re in a new town,
There’s no need to be unhappy.
Young man, there’s a place you can go,
I said, young man, when you’re short on your dough.
You can stay there, and I’m sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time.
- Chorus
- It’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
It’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
They have everything for young men to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys.
It’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
It’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
- You can get yourself cleaned, you can have a good meal,
You can do whatever you feel.
Young man, are you listening to me?
I said, young man, what do you want to be?
I said, young man, you can make real your dreams,
But you got to know this one thing!
No man does it all by himself.
I said, young man, put your pride on the shelf,
And just go there, to the YMCA.
I’m sure they can help you today.
- Repeat chorus
- Young man, I was once in your shoes.
I said, I was down and out with the blues.
I felt no man cared if I were alive.
I felt the whole world was so jive.
That’s when someone came up to me,
And said, young man, take a walk up the street.
There’s a place there called the YMCA.
They can start you back on your way.
- Repeat chorus, with
Young man, young man, there’s no need to feel down.
Young man, young man, get yourself off the ground.
Y-M-C-A...you’ll find it at the Y-M-C-A.
Young man, young man, there’s no need to feel down.
Young man, young man, get yourself off the ground.
Y-M-C-A...just go to the Y-M-C-A.
Young man, young man, are you listening to me?
Young man, young man, what do you wanna be?
Where the Song is Played
- Weddings (even, in one instance, when a Y staffer was married at a Y)
- Bar (Bas) Mitzvahs
- Conferences
- Restaurants (some use conga lines)
- Bars (in Jamaica, no less!) Sometimes karaoke style.
- Hotels/motels
- Baseball (majors and minors) and other sports stadiums
- Graduations
- Birthdays
- Banquets
- Roasts
- Olympics
- YMCA events!
- The groundskeepers at Yankee Stadium drop what they’re doing during the fifth inning cleanup of the infield to do the arm movements to the YMCA song as it’s played over the loudspeakers. They performed the song in the ticker tape parade that celebrated the Yankees’ 1996 World Series win.
- During the first pitching change at Wrigley Park in Chicago fans sing and dance to the YMCA song.
- Sumo wrestlers have been known to sing the YMCA song at the top of the seventh inning at the minor league baseball stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Charles Barkley led crowds at the Georgia Dome in several dances to the YMCA song. He led an especially rousing version of the song right after the U.S. Dream Team beat China, 133-70.
- At the 1996 Olympic weightlifting competitions, the atmosphere was so charged that music was played between each competitor’s lift. At one point, the crowd got so excited that the YMCA song was played with the volume turned down during the chorus so the crowd could sing out the letters as they made the shapes with their hands.
- As the Oakland, California Coliseum was being built around him during a series of away games, Seattle Mariners’ manager, Lou Piniella, said this about playing in the middle of the construction:
"It’s an interesting place to play. There’s a giant crane, there are drills going, jackhammers, construction workers dancing to that ‘YMCA’ song. It’s like playing in Times Square."
Music Makes the World Go ’Round
Because the YMCA song has become such an integral part of so many sports experiences, it’s not surprising that the song can be found in many sports music collections. Here are some examples that show just how popular the song is:
- New York Yankees Greatest Hits, Vol. 2: The Dream Season
- Chicago Bulls Complete Collection: Greatest Hits
- Green Bay Packers Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
- Jock Jams, Vol. 1
- Sports Jams
- Sports Explosion
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