This Pride anthem was written in Vancouver inspired by a local landmark

It's one of the few songs everyone knows, and we all know it from the strong brass right off the top.

Y.M.C.A by The Village People is a beloved bop, played at sporting events, weddings and especially at Pride gatherings.

As it turns out, the song was written in Vancouver more than 45 years ago.

According to Glenn Tkach, the creator andtour guide ofThe Really Gay History Tour, the band was in town working on an album when their producer asked what the YMCA was,after seeing the Robert Lee location at Burrard and Barclay during a lunch break.

Lead singer and lyricists Victor Willis explained.

"And then he said, let me guess, you want me to write a song about it?" Tkach said.

As we now know, he did the songappeared on The Village People's 1978 album Cruisin', and reached number two on Billboard's Hot 100.

While it was written in Vancouver, and the idea came from that location, Tkach said it's more likely that the inspiration for the lyrics came from a YMCAin New York City, and that thesong is about all YMCAs.

The song has become a staple at Pride events, and many believe it's a nod to gay cruising in YMCAs.

But Willis has repeatedly deniedit was ever intended to be taken that way.

In fact, he's actually threatened to sue anyone who implies it is about "illicit gay sex."

"I wrote it about hanging out in urban neighbourhoods in my youth," he said in an interview with News.com in 2017.

"'You can hang out with all the boys' was a term about me and my friends playing basketball at the Y. But I wanted to write a song that could fit anyone's lifestyle. I'm happy the gay community adopted it as their anthem, I have no qualms with that."

Tkach doesn't buy it.

"It's The Village People. Their whole target market was a gay disco audience," he said.

Even the band's name, Tkach added, is a reference to Greenwich Village also called The Village which has long been a queer neighbourhood.

"I'm a little skeptical of Willis's claim," Tkach said.

"If he wasn't aware that it had a double entendre to it, his producers at least must have been."