Feature image photo by Jim Britt / Contributor via Getty Images
Marvin Gaye has long been a fixture in my life. From listening to What’s Going On as a kid, to finding I Want You as an adult, his music and his voice have been integral to my understanding of romance and seduction. With a voice like Marvin’s, how could you not pull baddies all day every day?
Marvin Gaye is a treasured vocalist in this house. His was the first record I bought when I decided I wanted to get into record players. The song “I Want You” is my Tinder anthem. One of my favorite videos is the one of him laying on a couch full-on belting out the song from that position, truly a feat.
In the house I grew up in, the voices of Black vocalists were a constant comfort and stood in opposition to the chaos of the world I lived in. Voices like Marvin’s, Patti’s, Chaka’s, and Sade’s all swaddled me in warmth and protection when I felt my environment was thrown into chaos. As an adult, these songs come on when I’m dancing alone, when I’m cleaning, when I’m in need of comfort, or in need of some love.
Marvin Gaye is known for his ridiculously large discography, and not all of those songs can be described as what I call a “dyke anthem.” But one certainly can, and that song is “Come Live With Me Angel.”
From the psychedelic, saucy horns that open the song, to the first whispers of Gaye’s voice, this song is pure seduction. It has come in handy for me and my many seductions over the years, but the song itself is the perfect anthem for dyke’s looking to bed or wed the person in their lives.
Let’s talk lyrics:
The song begins simple enough “come live with me angel, come live with me in comfort…”
and honestly, my domesticity dyke prowess starts tingling. Come live with you, in comfort? Does this mean all I have to do is maybe cook you a meal and spend the rest of my days writing and getting [redacted]??? Sign me up!
The song continues
(I wanna be your lover)
I will understand your moods, baby
(I wanna be your lover)
I really, really
(I wanna be your lover)
When you want some solitude, sugar
(I wanna be your lover)
You can have it
Ooh, yeah, baby
Nobody understands a dyke’s moods like another dyke, so that checks out. But also, this swoonin’ and croonin’, goddamn Marvin! I can have my fine-ass wife/girlfriend/partner and still have my solitude? A lesbian wish fulfilled, you love to see it. If I can be my own realized person outside of my relationship, that’s a plus, and Marvin is making that promise from jump.
The song is so sweet and sultry and filled with promises of emotional maturity and great sex, and that’s a lesbian stereotype that is mostly true in my experience and in my talks with other dyke couples.
I should say, throughout this song Marvin is just cool as hell, occasionally tossing out a high note or a run, but generally staying at a measured tone that commands your whole body to attention.
Next up we have the lines:
Darling, please walk around nude
(Three times a day)
So I can get you, baby
I want to intrude
At least three times a day
In all the ways, baby (whoo)
You can have your way if you decide to stay
So
Come live with me, angel
Come live with me in comfort
Come live with me, angel
Come live with me in comfort
and now we’re getting nasty, and I like it. Yes! I will walk around nude, I do it all the time for an audience of me, so doing it for a hot babe sounds even better!
But let’s get into “I want to intrude at least three times a day in all the ways” because WOOO!
Wow!
Never heard it put like that, but I’m down honestly. The next part is my favorite part, because it continues this little nasty trend in a more explicit manner. Lesbians aren’t often portrayed as nasty sex fiends, but all the ones I know are so…maybe the stereotypes about us aren’t right! Who would have thought!
Anyway, Gaye goes on to say:
This is where all your fantasies end
Let me explore all your treasures
I’ll turn you on into all those freakish pleasures
Good experienced company
(Like me)
Who knows all the ways
Is what you need, baby
Just you and me (and me)
Locked up for days
Like come on! How can the media depict lesbians as sexless and stodgy and then report on studies about how we are out here having the most orgasms?? The math ain’t mathin! Dykes love being sluts and bragging about their sexual skills and prowess, as we should. This song is just so in line with that.
“good EXPERIENCED company like me…” okay Mr. Gaye, we hear you!
Toward the end of the song, we get a lot of breathless moaning and Mr. Gaye engaging in vocal acrobatics, vocal scissoring if you will. I tweeted this recently, but the problem with music today is they aren’t moanin’ on tracks like they used to! Shout out to Ms. Donna Summer! A great song has a lil mini orgasm in it, if you ask me.
The refrain of “come live with me angel” is basically the crux of my assertion that this song is a dyke anthem. U-Haul’s anyone??
It’s very dyke-y to ask someone to come live with you after a few months with promises to fulfill every wish and desire they’ve ever had for themselves. Can you deliver on that promise? Most likely not, but you will die trying.
It’s like when I put my couch and my bed together by myself. Am I butch? Absolutely not. But did I feel like I was during the process? You know it, honey.
Let’s say I’ve convinced you of the dyke anthem status for this song. What do we do now? Well, I’ve already confessed I’ve used this song to get laid and it has worked. Now it’s your turn, good people. This is a song you have to build to. Don’t just put it on off top and wait for the magic to happen. You have to wait, catch the light in your date’s eyes as the opening chords start to play, feel the tension rise, then go in for the kiss.
The best way to do this is to build a playlist around this song. A mixture of modern and classic songs that put you in the mood will do. Depending on what kind of person you are, you’ll want to put this song toward the middle of the playlist. You might get to the smoochin’ earlier or later, but this song will set the mood for the rest of the evening after it plays, so use it wisely.
Best of luck out there!
Yep, co-sign all of this.
Loved this so much!