"Sweet Transvestite" is a song from the 1973 British musical stage production ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...

'' and its 1975 film counterpart ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 Musical film, musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White (producer), Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman an ...

''. The song is performed by the character, Dr Frank N. Furter, originally played by

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 Londo ...

. The book, music and lyrics are by

Richard O'Brien Richard Timothy Smith. known professionally as Richard O'Brien, is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, composer, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' in 1973, which has remained in conti ...

and the musical arrangements by Richard Hartley. It is in the key of

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equiv ...

. It was originally the fourth song in the musical but it was later switched with its following number, " Time Warp", so that the latter came before Dr Frank N. Furter's entrance.

Overview

The song is performed by the character, Dr Frank N. Furter, originated on stage and screen by actor

, who performed in all of the original productions except Australia's. This includes the short-lived first run on Broadway. It introduces the character of Dr Frank N. Furter to the audience and Brad and Janet. He boasts where he's from, what he is, what he's been doing and why he does it. The song is one of the film and stage show's most famous and includes one of the show's most notorious lines, "''I'm just a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania''". Later references in the film explain that it is not the

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

region of Europe, but instead a galaxy by that name, and that Transsexual is Frank's (as well as secondary characters Magenta and Riff-Raff's) home planet. Frank makes a passing reference in the lyrics to "a

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagonis ...

movie;" O'Brien noted that he had a love for Reeves's films and incorporated that into the show.

Covers

Cover versions have been recorded by

Anthony Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, ...

Mina Mina may refer to: Places Iran * Minaq, East Azerbaijan * Mina, Fars * Mineh, Lorestan Province * Mina, Razavi Khorasan * Mehneh, Razavi Khorasan Province United States * Mina, California * Mina, Nevada * Mina, New York * Mina, Ohio * Mina ...

, Bates Motel, Trevor Byfield, The Steve Whitney Band,

TSOL T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathrock, ...

with

Keith Morris Keith Morris (born September 18, 1955) is an American singer and songwriter known for his role as frontman of the hardcore punk bands Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Off!. Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, he formed Black Flag at the ...

, and punk rock band Apocalypse Hoboken on the 2003 tribute compilation '' The Rocky Horror Punk Rock Show''. Tom Hewitt performed the song during the 2000 Broadway revival. The song was sung by Mercedes Jones ( Amber Riley) in the Season 2 episode of ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'', " The Rocky Horror Glee Show". Tim Curry's version (the film recording) was remixed for club play in 2011 by Joel Dickinson. In Fox's 2016 televised tribute, '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again,'' the song was performed by actress

Laverne Cox Laverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBT advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a Pri ...

, who played the role of Dr Frank N. Furter.

References

{{Authority control Sweet Transvestite Sweet Transvestite Songs with lyrics by Richard O'Brien Songs with music by Richard Hartley (composer) Songs about cross-dressing