In the early to mid-1980s, the disease Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, known as HIV/AIDS, became a world-wide medical phenomenon. It had the potential human destructiveness of medieval plagues. It killed by breaking down the body’s ability to fight off other opportunistic diseases, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and blood cancers. AIDS was transmitted sexually, primarily, although not exclusively, by homosexual activity. It also spread via intravenous drug use, where shared needle use by infected persons contributed to the spread. AIDS was also blood borne; babies could be infected by mothers who had used contaminated needles, who had intercourse with someone carrying the infection or who had received contaminated blood transfusions. By the late 1980s, the death toll from AIDS in the United States exceeded 100,000. (Jennings and Brewster, p. 498.) By 1993, AIDS was the leading cause of death in the country. It had infected more than 340,000 Americans, mostly young men aged 24-44, with more than two thirds of them dying. (Barnet, et. al, p. 253.)
Although homosexual activity was not the only means by which the disease was transmitted, public opinion treated it as a homosexual problem. Fear and panic was prevalent, and whatever good will towards homosexuals was generated by the Gay Rights Movement was negated. Hate crimes towards gays increased, as certain religious groups saw AIDS as God’s revenge on “sinners.”
The AIDS crisis generated a multitude of recordings from every different perspective. “Goddamn HIV,” written and sung by Mary Gauthier (1992), expresses the rage and frustration of the gay community that was faced with the devastating disease. (https://youtu.be/kjYHjdIn6F0)
My name is Michael Joe Alexandre
I’ve been a queer since the day I was born.
My family, they don’t say much to me,
my heart knows their silence has scorn
My friends have been dying, all my best friends are dead
I walk around these days, with their picture in my head
spending my time thinking ’bout the things they say
I don’t know what’s happening to me, goddamn HIVAnd I don’t know what all this means
I don’t think it means what it seemsWe used to party all night ’til the dawn
I can still see the boys with their tight leather on
in the downtown bars, where it always is night
I can hang with my friends still allright
I was 30 when the thickness first came
and it rode through my world like a wind driven flame.
Leaving ashes, memories, funerals and pain
and I don’t know what’s happening to me, goddamn HIVAnd I don’t know what all this means
I don’t think it means what it seemsWhen I was a boy I’d get scared at night
My momma would come, turn on the light
But there’s nobody here with me tonight
and I don’t know what’s happening to me
sometime at dusk I walk the train track
and I walk and I walk like I ain’t coming back
I look at the sky so endless and black
man I swear its swallowing me
goddamn HIV
“God Made the Virus,” a satire, was written and sung by McCarthy (1988) from the perspective of Christian fundamentalists who believed that AIDS is a God-given plague on sinners. (https://youtu.be/VOti1xX8fdI)
In this hotbed of vice, in this nursery of sin
Let them perish like flies in the reckoning
Your evil acts that none can name
Let them pave the way to the grave
God made the virus to punish the wicked
Let the bells ring out the old and ring in the new
In the new, in the new
The sixties was an evil time
Everybody took drugs and had sex all the time
On the darkest night was the day to them
But a sun arose to kill them
God made the virus to punish the wicked
Let the bells ring out the old and ring in the new
This pious plague
Is seeking out sin
Makes me believe
It’s our turn to win
Though you’ve slaughtered the foe of the family
This holy disease wastes the enemy
If you’d only send a special death
For the lesbians and the communists
God made the virus to punish the wicked
Let the bells ring out the old and ring in the new
This pious plague
Is seeking out sin
Makes me believe
It’s our turn to win
God made the virus to punish the wicked
Let the bells ring out the old and ring in the new
God made it to punish the wicked
“On Every Corner,” written and sung by Ani DiFranco (1991) is a chronicle of the impact of AIDS on the homeless in early-1990s New York and the lack of response thereto. (https://youtu.be/l_KB13IVJXY)
death
has been your lover
he has brought you
the edges of your life
and now you are looking over
and all we can say is
it’s gonna be all right
and I am looking forward
to looking back on these days
when on every corner
someone holds a sign
that says I’m homeless
I’m hungry and
I have AIDShow will they define our generation
in the coming decades
who will tell the story
and what will they say?
will they say the victims
were thought of as criminals
while the guilty sat on high
deciding their fate
ticking off statistics in their spare time
tell me,
which is the crime?may you never test positive
pregnancy
HIV
may you never be the receptacle of blame
may you never be the scapegoat
for a whole
world full of shame
may you never be fighting for your life
and at the same time
have to fight for your namethere are too few who open both eyes
we sit back in our easy chairs
and we try to sympathize
whether from the point of a needle or
the edge of our beds
we too, like too many others,
could be dead
our actions
will define us
before a single definition can be said
yeah, so what if god is testing us
what if that’s true
what are you going to do
what is the answer
to you
“Hold On,” written and sung by Sarah McLachlan (1993), was inspired by the true story of a woman whose fiancé discovers he has AIDS. (https://youtu.be/ZN0jDwg0UW0)
Hold on, hold on to yourself
For this is gonna hurt like hellHold on, hold on to yourself
You know that only time will tell
What is it in me that refuses to believe
This isn’t easier than the real thingMy love, you know that you’re my best friend
You know I’d do anything for you
My love, let nothing come between us
My love for you is strong and trueAm I in Heaven here or am I
At the crossroads I am standing
So now you’re sleeping peaceful
I lie awake and pray
You’ll be strong tomorrow and we’ll
See another day and we will praise it
And love the light that brings a smile
Across your faceOh, God if you’re out there won’t you hear me
I know that we’ve never talked before
Oh, God the man I love is leaving
Won’t you take him when he comes to your doorAm I in Heaven here or am I in hell
At the crossroads I am standing
So now you’re sleeping peaceful
I lie awake and pray
That you’ll be strong tomorrow and we’ll
See another day and we will praise it
And love the light that brings a smileNow you’re sleeping peaceful
I lie awake and pray
That you’ll be strong tomorrow and we’ll
See another day and we will praise it
And love the light that brings a smile
Across your faceHold on, hold on to yourself
For this is gonna hurt like hell
“The Last Song,” sung by Elton John and written by Bernie Taupin (1992), is probably one of the most famous songs about the AIDS crisis. The song is poignant; told from the perspective of a dying man, “as light as straw and brittle as a bird,” reuniting with his estranged father. Elton John recorded “The Last Song” for his young friend Ryan White, a American hemophiliac from Indiana, who contracted HIV/AIDS through a tainted blood transfusion and was subsequently expelled from his middle school. Diagnosed in 1984, White became a de facto poster child for the disease, illustrating that people of every ilk were vulnerable. (https://youtu.be/1yl51-RGs8A)
Yesterday you came to lift me up
As light as straw and brittle as a bird
Today I weigh less than a shadow on the wall
Just one more whisper of a voice unheardTomorrow leave the windows open
As fear grows please hold me in your arms
Won’t you help me if you can to shake this anger
I need your gentle hands to keep me calm`Cause I never thought I’d lose
I only thought I’d win
I never dreamed I’d feel
This fire beneath my skin
I can’t believe you love me
I never thought you’d come
I guess I misjudged love
Between a father and his sonThings we never said come together
The hidden truth no longer haunting me
Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken
That kind of understanding sets me free
The dramatic personal consequences of the AIDS epidemic were portrayed in Jonathan Demme’s movie “Philadelphia,” the story of a rising young Philadelphia lawyer, who was fired from his law firm after management learned that he had AIDS. Bruce Springsteen wrote the movie’s opening theme song “Streets of Philadelphia” (1993), for which he won an Oscar, a Golden Globe award and several Grammys. (https://youtu.be/S5vEengM83Y)
I was bruised and battered, I couldn’t tell what I felt.
I was unrecognizable to myself.
I saw my reflection in a window, I didn’t know my own face.
Oh brother are you gonna leave me wastin’ away
On the streets of Philadelphia.I walked the avenue, ’til my legs felt like stone,
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone,
At night I could hear the blood in my veins,
Black and whispering as the rain,
On the streets of Philadelphia.Ain’t no angel gonna greet me.
It’s just you and I my friend.
My clothes don’t fit me no more,
I walked a thousand miles
Just to slip this skin.The night has fallen, I’m lyin’ awake,
I can feel myself fading away,
So receive me brother with your faithless kiss,
Or will we leave each other alone like this
On the streets of Philadelphia
“She Thinks His Name was John,” sung by Reba McIntire, written by Sandy Knox and Steve Rosen (1994), reflects the reality that not only gay men were victims of AIDS. (https://youtu.be/Ztrf3tXGz40)
She can account for all of the men in her past
Where they are now, who they married, how many kids they have
She knew their backgrounds, family and friends
A few she even talks to now and thenBut there is one she can’t put her fingers on
There is one who never leaves her thoughts
And she thinks his name was JohnA chance meeting, a party a few years back
Broad shoulders and blue eyes, his hair was so black
He was a friend of friend you could say
She let his smile just sweep her away
And in her heart she knew that it was wrong
But too much wine and she left his bed at dawn
And she thinks his name was JohnNow each day is one day that’s left in her life
She won’t know love, have a marriage or sing lullabies
She lays all alone and cries herself to sleep
‘Cause she let a stranger kill her hopes and her dreamsAnd all her friends say what a pity what a loss
And in the end when she was barely hangin’ on
All she could say is she thinks his name was John
She thinks his name was John
“When Angels Cry,” was written and sung by Janis Ian (1995) in memory of several friends who died of AIDS. (https://youtu.be/SU7vqUcMpzQ)
Wait, your tired arms must rest
Let this moment pass
Wait until the morning
Close your eyes and you will see
Who you used to be
Left without a warning
Who knew one so big could grow so small
Lighter than the writing on the wallWhen angels cry, can I stand by
When stones weep, can my heart sleep
Wish I’d never heard, wish I’d never heard
Wish I’d never heard
The power of a four letter word‘Cause only love will matter in the end
For a woman or a man
What’s the difference now
Here we live with bottles
And needles and truth
Here is your living proof
That death cannot be proud
Some say it’s a judgement on us all
I can’t believe that God could be that smallWhen angels cry, can I stand by
When stones weep, can my heart sleep
Wish I’d never heard, wish I’d never heard
Wish I’d never heard
The power of a four letter wordIf ever was a rose that longed to bloom
If ever was a heart that longed to fly
If ever was an angel, it was you
So close your eyes and say goodbye
GoodbyeWhen angels cry, I can’t stand by
When stones weep, I can’t sleep
Guess I’ve finally learned
Guess I’ve finally learned
Yes, I’ve finally learned
That love is just a four letter word
Hope is just a four letter word