Long time readers of this column are familiar with my love for singing and gravy. I love to sing all kinds of songs (sometimes while waiting for gravy) and songs from 70’s – when my great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents were alive, are some of my favorites! The other day I was singing along to the classic hit Y.M.C.A. by the Village People and I thought – what if we could change those lyrics and make the song about cats at the Orlando Cat Café. Those of us “in the biz” refer to our beloved Cat Café by the initials of “O.C.C.” and so it seemed like a good match!
I have taken the liberty of re-writing the lyrics to the first two verse and the chorus from:
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
It’s fun to stay at the YMCA
It’s fun to stay at the YMCA
To:
Young cat, there’s no need to feel down
I said, young cat, bat your toys on the ground
I said, young cat, cause you’re in a new town
There’s no need to be unhappy
Young cat, there’s a place you can go
I said, young cat, when you’re filled with some woe
You can stay there, and I am sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time
It’s fun to stay at the O.C.C.C.
It’s fun to play at the O.C.C.C
They have everything for you cats to enjoy
You can play with a brand-new toy
It’s fun to stay at the O.C.C.C.
It’s fun to play at the O.C.C.C
You can act like a queen, you can have a good meal
You can scratch whatever you feel
Yes, I had to add the extra “C” to make it work but think of it as an extra cat (which is never a bad thing). So that’s as far as a I got. Here are the rest of the lyrics:
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
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 tight
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
CHORUS
Young man, young man, there’s no need to feel down
Young man, young man, pick yourself off the ground
YMCA, it’s fun to stay at the YMCA
Young man, young man, are you listening to me
Young man, young man, what do you wanna be?
YMCA, you’ll find it at the YMCA
No man, young man, does it all by himself
Young man, young man, put your pride on the shelf
YMCA, and just go to the YMCA
Young man, young man I was once in your shoes
Young man, young man I was down with the blues, YMCA
So, I am asking you, loyal readers, to help me with the rest of the song! Send your lyric suggestions (only clean lyrics please!) to info@orlandocatcafe.com and we will make an old song new again! Of course, I’m going to have to check with the folks at Sony as they own the copyright on the original song but I feel confident that they will let me sing it (just for fun!).