"Gay Messiah" is a song written and performed by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It originally appeared on his EP, Waiting for a Want, released by DreamWorks Records in June 2004 as a preview of his fourth studio album, Want Two, released by Geffen Records in November 2004.
Composition
"Gay Messiah" features both Christian and gay iconography,[1] and has been described as an example of Wainwright expressing his sexuality within his work.[2] In the song, Wainwright addresses being labeled a gay icon, which he rejects.[3][4] Instead, Wainwright declares he is "Rufus the Baptist",[5][6] referring to John the Baptist,[4] and sings: "I won't be the one/Baptised in cum".[7] He says of the titular subject: "He will then be reborn from 1970s porn/wearing tube socks with style/and such an innocent smile".[8][9] In his review of Want Two, Pitchfork's Stephen Deusner described the savior character as "Wainwright's own personal Jesus".[1]
Religious wars are back in fashion, and the main problem is that I don't empathise with religious sentiment. Gay people are not represented in that literature. So even though it's silly, I feel like I can't enter the conversation. So I decided to write a song about how the next messiah would be a homosexual. The Bible needs a gay gospel.[7]
In 2005, he said of the song's origins:
It was written ages ago as a party song, to kind of liven up a dinner table. And then as the political climate thickened it became a kind of liberal anthem. On stage I began to preface it with a plea to go out and vote Democrat. And now it has become a kind of literal prayer. We do actually need this divine porn star to come down and teach us what it means to be human again...[8]
Reception
In his review of Want Two, BBC's Chris Jones said the song "is a fine example of [Wainwright's] tongue-in-cheek ability to mix the sacred and profane, heralding a Republican-baiting prophet".[9]
