Welcome to the Gay Illusion

Just your typical crazy teenage Styx fan who is here to ramble about my tommy shaw obsession and post my shitty memes 😍

[gunnmetalgaze]

Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades

[justaearthboundmisfit]

I've been obsessed with caught in the act! I had to edit Tommy.

[justaearthboundmisfit]

Watching Return to Paradise...

[twixnmix]

Andy Warhol, Annie Lennox, Tommy Shaw, Frank Zappa, Paul Stanley, Frank Cody and Paul Shaffer at NBC Radio's "Live From the Hard Rock Cafe" in New York City, 1985.

[mccoys-killer-queen]

[just-get-through-this-night]

styx hello kitty-fied

[secret-unburnt-guitars]

i don’t think i ever posted this from back in february when KWH had its 40th anniversary

[just-get-through-this-night]

story of my life

[tennantbutt]

styx’ 1983 concept album kilroy was here contains two tracks which, when decontextualized from the album, may be interpreted broadly as songs about romantic pursuit; in essence, love songs. within the context of the album, however, their lyrical content becomes ambiguous. for example, the 8th track on the album, “haven’t we been here before,” written by tommy shaw and sung by shaw and dennis deyoung, playing the two leads jonathan chance and robert kilroy respectively, contains a duet between the two vocalists, creating a dialogue with each other:

(Fig. 1a: Chorus. Shaw in regular typeface, DeYoung in italics, both in bold)

(Fig. 1b: Post-chorus. DeYoung in italics.)

originally slated to be the third single from the album, it comes at a point where the two male leads find themselves alone before the imminent confrontation with the antagonist. this is most likely what the first lines of the chorus refer to. clearly, the positioning of the two male vocalists against this lyrical content complicates the subject of the song’s characters. one has to wonder why shaw refused to have this song released as a single. though a palpable interpretation of this can be a statement about about male camraderie, the song is further complicated when you take into account the content of an earlier song.

“don’t let it end” was the third track on the album. written and sung in typical deyoungian fashion, it was a top 10 hit on the US charts in 1983. this is a much clearer example of a love song.

(Fig. 2a: Opening verse)

interestingly, the music video for this song attempts to frame the song with the strict assumption that the lyrical content is about a female love interest - making it as obvious as possible to the audience so as not to cause any confusion. though, this is unusual due to the fact that there are no women in the story[1] (the cast is all members of the band).

(Fig. 2b: Pre-chorus and chorus)

pay close attention to figure 2b. it bears similarity to deyoung’s lines in figure 1b. this again confuses the subject of the song. following the content of the paragraph above, it is logical to assume Kilroy is referring to jonathan chance.

IN THIS ESSAY I W-

[1] Not counting JY

[mccoys-killer-queen]

Tommy Shaw: certified baby goofball™

[just-get-through-this-night]

call that The Horny Young Man

[just-get-through-this-night]

he’s so cute i finally drew him again ❤️

[just-get-through-this-night]

Oh 😲 Mama 👩 I'm 👤 in 🚪fear 😱 for 🤨 my 👈 life 🛟 From 📩 the 😄 long 📏 arm 💪 of 😇 the 😳 law 🚔 Lawman 👮‍♂️ has 🤔 put 🫳 an 🤨 end 🔚 to 🧐 my 👤 running 🏃‍♂️ And 🐜 I'm 😣 so 😧 far 💨 from 😤 my 🙈 home 🏠 Oh 😲 Mama 👩 I 👁️ can 🥫 hear 👂 you 🫵 a 🅰️ crying 😭 You're 🫵 so 💯 scared 😱 and 🐜 all 🧐 alone 👤 Hangman 😵 is 😹 coming 💨 down ⬇️ from 📩 the 🤓 gallows 😨 And 🐜 I 😀 don't 🚫 have 🤲 very ⚠️ long ⌛️

Yeah! 🙌

The 🤜 jig 🧩 is 🫰 up 🆙 the 😏 news 🗞️ is 😜 out 📤 They've 🤧 finally 🎬 found 🔍 me 🤷‍♂️ The 😅 renegade 💥 who 🧐 had 🤲 it 😉 made 😥 Retrieved 🦮 for 😂 a 🅰️ bounty 💰 Nevermore 🙅‍♂️ to 2️⃣ go 💨 astray 😐

This ☝️ will 📝 be 🐝 the 😔 end 🔚 today 🗓️ of 😮 the 🥶 wanted 🤠 man 👨

Oh 😲 Mama 👩 I've 🫲 been 🫘 years 👨‍🦳 on 🔛 the 🔥 lam 🐑 And 🐜 had 🎩 a 🅰️ high 🤒 price 🤑 on 🔛 my 😅 head 🙆‍♂️ Lawman 👮‍♂️ said 🗣️ "Get 🏃‍♂️ him 👨 dead 💀 or 🤔 alive 😇" Now 🥵 it's 😪 for 4️⃣ sure 🤝 he'll 😈 see 👀 me 😴 dead 💀 Dear 🦌 Mama 👩 I 👁️ can 🥫 hear 👂 you 🫵 a 🅰️ crying 😭 You're 🫵 so 💯 scared 😱 and 🐜 all 🧐 alone 👤 Hangman 😵 is 😹 coming 💨 down ⬇️ from 📩 the 🤓 gallows 😨 And 🐜 I 😀 don't 🚫 have 🤲 very ⚠️ long ⌛️

The 🤜 jig 🧩 is 🫰 up 🆙 the 😏 news 🗞️ is 😜 out 📤 They've 🤧 finally 🎬 found 🔍 me 🤷‍♂️ The 😅 renegade 💥 who 🧐 had 🤲 it 😉 made 😥 Retrieved 🦮 for 😂 a 🅰️ bounty 💰 Nevermore 🙅‍♂️ to 2️⃣ go 💨 astray 😐 The 😮‍💨 judge 👨‍⚖️ will 📝 have 🤲 revenge 😾 today 🗓️ On 🔛 the 👆 wanted 🤠 man 👨

Oh 😲 Mama 👩 I'm 👤 in 🚪fear 😱 for 🤨 my 👈 life 🛟 From 📩 the 😄 long 📏 arm 💪 of 😇 the 😳 law 🚔 Hangman 😵 is 😹 coming 💨 down ⬇️ from 📩 the 🤓 gallows 😨 And 🐜 I 😀 don't 🚫 have 🤲 very ⚠️ long ⌛️

The 🤜 jig 🧩 is 🫰 up 🆙 the 😏 news 🗞️ is 😜 out 📤 They've 🤧 finally 🎬 found 🔍 me 🤷‍♂️ The 😅 renegade 💥 who 🧐 had 🤲 it 😉 made 😥 Retrieved 🦮 for 😂 a 🅰️ bounty 💰 Nevermore 🙅‍♂️ to 2️⃣ go 💨 astray 😐 This ☝️ will 📝 be 🐝 the 😔 end 🔚 today 🗓️ of 😮 the 🥶 wanted 🤠 man 👨

The 🥱 wanted 🤠 man 👨

And 🐜 I 👁️ don't 🚫 wanna 😣 go 💨 no-no 👎 Mama 👩 don't 🚫 let 🔡 'em Ⓜ️ take 😭 me! 🫂 No ✋ no 👎 no 🙅‍♂️ I 😤 can't 🚫 go 🏃‍♂️

[thegrandilllusion]

folks it’s the grand illusion day

happy 46th anniversary!!

[just-get-through-this-night]

who let him cook bro

[just-get-through-this-night]

McStyx

[just-get-through-this-night]