In defence of Rod Stewart’s ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’
Canonical, Rod Stewart is a loser—I get it. In Pamela Des Barres’ memoir I’m with the Band, her groupie reflections on rock and roll legends are mostly utterly admiring, until it gets to Stewart. George Harrison once remarked on the musician, “He’s got a brain that’s as small as a marble”, while other names like Elton John and John Lennon had their fair share of harsh words to spare about him.
Stewart has arguably never truly been cool, especially in comparison to his counterparts of this era. But amidst the bashing and the back-and-forth battle of whether or not his career as a whole holds up, there has been a tragedy. One flawless hit became a casualty, and ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ deserves better.
When I make this argument, and as I often do in pubs, work chats, and basically to anyone who will listen, the reaction is typically a groan. Part of it comes down to the title, as even for me, a big fan of this song, it does send a shiver down my spine to have to say. But overwhelmingly, the song has been shunned as cringeworthy in the same way that Stewart himself has by younger generations.
However, we need to free ourselves from those shackles. Cringe is a prison of our own making, and once you finally surrender, put your headphones on and go out for a walk, ideally on a sunny day down a bustling high street, while listening to Stewart’s 1978 hit loudly—you’ll see how beautiful the freedom of simply having fun is.
And this is a fun song. When the track was released, Stewart was instantly slammed for it. It marked a moment when he switched from a more blues-rock sound to something more pop and disco-oriented, and everyone hated him for it. However, to just pick out Stewart as the disco-chasing fiend was a tough break. The truth is, everyone was at it. By the end of the 1970s, The Rolling Stones were releasing their track ‘Miss You‘, and Paul McCartney was about to release ‘Temporary Secretary’. Prince was emerging; things were changing. Rock and roll had begun to stale and was switching up—God forbid Stewart dip his fingers in some new waters.
However, that early shrouding of the track definitely stained it. From then on, ‘cool’ music people have laughed it off as a lame, embarrassing sell-out of a track. But the song was a complete hit, grabbing the number one spots worldwide. It’s Stewart’s biggest track, and while we can argue all day about how commercial success doesn’t match up to artistic merit, there is also the point that the spending power of people never lies. You don’t get a hit that big without the song being catchy, fun, and broadly enjoyable. You don’t sell that many units of a track without it being an earworm, and I need people to start admitting that it has the power to infect them, too, if only they’d give it a chance.
Give it a chance in the right context, in the right mood, and what you’ll find is something electric. Stewart’s bold turn towards disco is precisely that; it’s bold. This is a deeply maximalist song as the singer throws everything at it. It’s so overtly seductive that it becomes comical, like a parody song from an Austin Powers movie, but the music carries it.
The opening guitar riff is such a hook that you’re in immediately. By the time the synth-y keys come in, the vibe of the track should have you completely locked in. Then comes the story as Stewart’s mission to pull a hottie in a club leads to what is undeniably a belter of a chorus, if only you’ll let yourself indulge in it. It’s stupid. To be walking around a supermarket or sitting about at home while someone sings, “If you want my body, and you think I’m sexy / Come on, sugar, tell me so”, is silly but again, the guitars behind it are so infectious, the groove so tight that if you can shrug off the boring rejection of the cringe factor, what you’re left with is a perfect pop song.
The perfection keeps stepping up as the song builds and builds towards its instrumental break. By the time the saxophone comes out, the maximalism is so over the top, the indulgence is so high that again, I understand why it’s easy for people to run scared. But I don’t fear fun, and I don’t think you should either. Embrace it, let your hips move—you’ll find a song that wants to take you into its loving arms, spin you around and show you a good time.
“I need to hear ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’ in the club”, I dared to say once, and everyone laughed. But if there is one hill I will die on, it’s this. Rod Stewart made ‘Saturday night’ into a song right here. This is a track that wants you to dance and let loose. It’s a song that instantly gets stuck in your head and carries you off, as evidenced by its mass sales. But it’s also a song wrongly maligned by people’s fear of being cringe or embarrassing.
However, in the words of a tweet I saw once and think about daily, “What you see as cringe, I see as fun, and that’s why I’m happier than you.” Have some wine, put on the Rod Stewart song and let yourself go. I promise it’ll feel much better to sway than cringe away.
