People have just found out this Frank Sinatra classic is a gay love song, and there are a lot of feelings
This classic Frank Sinatra song was actually written about a gay relationship. (Getty/Bettmann)
The internet is just now finding out that “Fly Me to the Moon”, made famous by Frank Sinatra, is actually a queer love song.
The song’s composer and writer, Bart Howard, had a male partner – officially making “Fly Me to the Moon” an ode for the gays.
Howard and his partner Thomas Fowler were together for 58 years up until the former’s death in 2004, meaning the iconic 1954 jazz number was almost certainly written about their relationship.
LGTBQ+ fans of the song have welcomed the revelation with open arms of course, reveling in the fact that the Frank Sinatra classic and one of the most-recorded songs of all time has big gay inspiration.
“There’s a very real possibility that my wife and I would not be together without this song, so this is my favorite thing I learned today,” one person shared on Twitter.
“Not my queer ass singing this at my cousin’s wedding tipsy for the free for all dance portion. consider it my coming out i guess HAHAHA,” added another, while one person simply suggested that, just maybe, all the great love songs are gay.
Some fans have instead used the opportunity to further the narrative that the moon itself is, in fact, gay.
The fact that the song was once covered by bonafide queer icon Judy Garland, and that it’s used in queer video game favourite Bayonetta, suddenly makes a whole lot of sense.
Putting jokes aside, several Twitter users have highlighted the importance of recognising the queer subtext of “Fly Me to the Moon”, which was created decades before homosexuality was legalised in the US.
“Seeing people go ‘why does it matter to mention its gay’ as if i haven’t seen people remove the queer and AIDS subtext of [designer Félix] González-Tórres’ work related to his partner and loss,” one person said.
Bart Howard’s partner Fowler died a few years after Howard in 2007, and the pair are now buried together in Texas.
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