Arnold Zwicky's Blog

(Not a lot about language, but mostly about music, sexuality, and the display of men’s bodies.)

[Note 7/10/14: at the request of the photographer (see comments), most of the images have been removed from this posting. As far as I know, they can all still be accessed by Google image searches on Steve Grand, DNA, or Timoteo.]

This is about the country musician Steve Grand, the cover musician Steve Starchild, and the underwear models Steve Chatham and Finn Diesel — who are all the same young man, now getting wild media attention through a music video. From Wikipedia:

Steve Grand [born 1990] is a country music performer from Lemont, Illinois. He was acclaimed as the first openly gay male country singer after the music video of his song “All-American Boy” went viral on YouTube in less than a week.

“All-American Boy” is a sweet song of unrequited love, between the gay singer and his straight best buddy. It’s notable for including a kiss between the men that passes without eliciting “gay panic”, either in the buddy or in most of the video’s many viewers. Grand is also a strong singer with an attractive voice (hence Starchild’s career as a cover singer) and a very attractive body as well (hence Grand’s career as an underwear model, under various names).

The video:

 (#1)

The lyrics:

Ripped jeans, only drinks whiskey
I find him by the fire while his girl was getting frisky, ohh
I say we go this road tonight

He smiles, his arms around her
But his eyes are holdin me, just a captive to his wonder, ohh
I say we go this road tonight

Now I know that that’s your girl, I mean no disrespect
The way that shirt hugs your chest boy, I just won’t forget
I’ll be sittin here, drinking my whiskey
I won’t say goodnight unless I think ya might miss me, ohh

Be my all-american boy tonight
Where everyday’s the 4th of july
And it’s alright, alright
And we can keep this up till the morning light
And you can hold me deep in your eyes
And it’s alright, alright
Be my, be my
My all-american boy

Ripped jeans, tight shirt
He lights a cigarette you know I’m glad that she can’t stand it, ohh
I drink the moonlight from his eyes

Now hold there, just a moment
I want to take this in now we don’t need no photo of it, no
We should go this road tonight

Now I know that that’s your girl, and I don’t give a damn
She’s been cussin and cryin, she don’t know what she has
So I’ll be sittin here, tryin hold down my whiskey,
You tell your girl good night cause somebody’d like to kiss me, ohh

Be my all-american boy tonight
Where everyday’s the 4th of july
And it’s alright, alright
And we can keep this up till the morning light
And you can hold me deep in your eyes
And it’s alright, alright
Be my, be my
My all-american boy

Of all the girls and boys to look my way
Ain’t no body ever hit me this way
So won’t you come back with me
And lay with me a while

I’m gonna wrestle you out of them clothes
Leave that beautiful body exposed
And you can have my heart and my soul and my body
Just be mine

Be my all-american boy tonight
Baby you light my fire
I’ll make you feel alright, alright!

And we can keep this up till the morning light
And you can hold me deep in your eyes
And it’s alright, alright
Be my, be my
Just, be my, be my
My all-american boy

[Linguistic notes: The song has features from informal English — so-called “g-dropping”, gonna for going to — but otherwise has four fleeting features from non-standard vernacular: “double negation” in we don’t need no photo; 3sg don’t rather than doesn’t in she don’t know; the inversion with ain’t in the negative existential ain’t nobody ever hit me; and the demonstrative them in them clothes.  These features build up as the singer moves towards the climactic moments of the song, when his desire becomes most poignant and is expressed most openly.]

[Notes on poetic form: The first couplet rhymes perfectly (whiskey / frisky), but then the rhymes deviate from perfection (around her / wonder, disrespect / forget, whiskey / miss me), until eventually we can’t be entirely sure that some lines were meant to rhyme at all (moment / photo of it ?).]

On to Steve Starchild. Here’s his strong cover of Lady Gaga’s “You and I”:

 (#2)

About the song:

“You and I” (stylized as “Yoü and I”) is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, taken from her second studio album, Born This Way (2011). Written by Gaga, “You and I” is a rock and roll-influenced song that samples Queen’s “We Will Rock You” (1977) and features electric guitar by Queen’s Brian May. (link)

And now to Grand’s modeling work. Four samples from Abs City, starting with a relatively routine shot (except for the facial expression) in Timoteo briefs (from DNA magazine):

[image removed] (#3)

Then a cock tease shot, again in Timoteos (but just barely), again from DNA:

[image removed] (#4)

Finally, two cock tease shots not involving briefs:

[ image removed] (#5)

[image removed] (#6)

About DNA magazine:

DNA [subtitle: Made That Way] is an Australian monthly magazine targeted at the gay male audience. The magazine features stories, celebrity profiles, pop culture reviews, fashion tips/reviews, grooming tips and photography. The magazine is available at most newsagencies in Australia, as well as larger book stores. Launched in Australia in 2000, the magazine is now available in many countries, including Canada, the United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom and several other countries in Europe. (link)

The magazine explains its name:

Many people ask why a gay magazine is called DNA and if it has anything to do with Deoyxribose Nucleic Acid. Yes and no. Back in 2000, there was a lot of talk about the ‘gay gene’ in human DNA. We decided DNA was a great title for a gay magazine. It also gave us a chance to say that being gay has something to do with what’s in your jeans! (link)

Finally, the Timoteo line:

Timoteo Ocampo is an American designer based in Los Angeles, California. He studied at California State University, Los Angeles and received a Bachelor’s degree in Art with an option in Fashion Design.

… In addition to the fashion lines he carried, he produced his own contemporary men’s collection that carries his name, TIMOTEO. The collection consists of denim, dress shirts, fashion tees, and a variety of accessories. In 2006, swimwear was added to the TIMOTEO collection. The TIMOTEO line recognizes great fashion but also understands that style, fit, and comfort are the key to its success. (link)

The Timoteo line is deeply devoted to men’s bodies, especially their crotches. Here are three samples not involving Steve Grand: a male nude showing off a fashion accessory; a guy in (well, partly out of) a singlet from the Timoteo Sport collection (sporting a major moose knuckle); and a guy in a Timoteo rugby brief:

[image removed] (#7)

[image removed] (#8)

[image removed] (#9)

(Hat tip to Thib Guichert-Callin for the lead from the Steve Grand of “All-American Boy” to all the other stuff.)

This entry was posted on July 11, 2013 at 7:09 am and is filed under Gender and sexuality, Music, Rhyme, Style and register, Underwear, Variation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.