About this Playlist
The musicto community celebrates Pride month
22 tracks that celebrate love and self-expression while also highlighting the shady behavior that the ignorant and scared persist on demonstrating. Here are songs to empower and uplift.
22 Songs to celebrate Pride:
Standing In the Way of Control – Gossip
Bellowed out from the mighty diaphragm of singer Beth Ditto to the chugging riffs of gawky garage guitarist Nathan Howdeshell, Gossip’s Standing in the Way of Control was impossible to avoid in the UK in 2006 and 2007, a Top Ten hit that drew a line in the sand across which The Man had better not even think about stepping.
But whilst the song’s message may have felt universal, embraced in Britain and across Europe as a song of courage for the underdog, its origin was specific to a queer, atheist woman escaping from the conservative, religious American South and continuing to fight for the rights of those she left behind.
Read the full write up on Music to Fight Evil
Get Back Up – Tidal Volume
Tidal Volume’s song “Get Back Up” screams “fearless”. The message of staying true to who you are, is clear in this rockin’ track. It was inspired by the band members who are part of the LGBTQ community. Tidal Volume member, Zach Sullentrup, stated “we wrote this song to remind people it’s going to be ok, and if it’s not, we can still have each other’s backs”.
Read the full write up on Music to Empower
Pride – Grace Petrie
Totally stealing this from Jon (go read his brilliant write up from 2019) It’s what I play for people who have the attitude of “Why do we even need Pride?” often stemming from a belief that everything is normal and society accepts everybody now. As much as we’d like to think so it’s clearly not true. As Grace sings – the LGBTQ community is attacked everyday, whether by guns or state houses passing what are clearly non-constitutional laws based on religious preferences.
It’s incumbent upon us – the people who are already accepted by society to stand up for those who aren’t. To stand by their side – to be proud with them and support their right for full acceptance. Amen!
Daughter – Ryan Cassata
I read the news today. Oh boy!
About a lucky man who made the gr…
Actually, the news was about a father, arrested for killing his transgender son!
Just stop and think about that! Dad… intentionally… kills own son!
The thought of it is totally mind-blowing. In India, I think it was. But the thing that really gets me, is that underpinning this extreme behaviour there’s a massive global phenomenon; a real visceral hatred of people who don’t quite fit into some arbitrarily, yet widely held perception of what being normal is meant to be. Sure, the murder of your own offspring may be true tip-of-the-iceberg madness; yet assault, bullying, harassment, are all daily-fare for the LGBTQ community. Sadly, the human animal is a godless thing, with an evil brutality festering just below its flesh.
Read the full write up on Music to Navigate a Life
Disappointing – John Grant
I was sorely tempted to choose ‘Blackbelt‘, from John Grant’s wonderful 2013 album Pale Green Ghosts, if only for introducing me to the word “callipygian”. But that’s a very negative song, whereas ‘Disappointing’ — contrary to its title — is an unequivocal song of love and affirmation with its chorus “There’s nothing more beautiful than your smile as it conquers your face / There’s nothing more comforting than to know / Know you exist in this time, in this place”.
A musical and linguistic polymath from a conservative Methodist family, Grant’s life, like his music, has never been short on drama. He was relentlessly bullied at school and ashamed of his secret sexuality, exiling himself to Europe as soon as he was old enough to leave home. Now in his mid-50s, an HIV positive former addict who wears his heart on his sleeve, Grant has matured into a fine, sober, insightful songwriter with a wicked sense of humour. But his work is always overshadowed by the struggle against a hostile world with fixed ideas about what it means to be a man.
“I had a really hard time coming to terms with my sexuality, because I was taught to hate myself,” he told Shaun Curran in The I newspaper in 2021. “I took the hatred wielded towards me and turned it inwards. So I’ve been in fight-or-flight mode most of my life.”
Supermodel (You Better Work) – RuPaul
Just as the song says; You Better Work. If you don’t know about RuPaul, he’s a born and raised Californian who is credited with widening exposure for drag queens in mainstream society. He truly paved a path for members of the LGBTQ community to be themselves in such a critical world.
Read the full write up on Music to Strut To
I Know A Place – MUNA
I don’t remember where I first heard this song, or how long ago I heard it, but it has stuck with me since.
What I do remember is the way this song made me feel. It has such a fun beat and vibe. The kind where you want to get up and just dance. The lyrics focus on feeling nervous, and like you can’t be yourself in whatever situation you’re in. The chorus booms with having a space where everyone can relax, have fun, and dance. It is definitely a feel good song.
I learned a few months after I first heard this song that it was written for the LGBTQ+ community. The place is an imaginary place, free of judgement and hatred. A place where people in the community could feel safe and encouraged to be themselves. While I do not identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am, and have always been, an ally. I think this song has been desperately needed by the community. I think it is so cool that MUNA decided to write a song for their fellow LGBTQ+ community. I think it’s even cooler that it has since blossomed, and while it still is meant for the LGBTQ+ community, other communities, such as BIPOC, can also enjoy and feel welcomed and included and safe.
Read the full write up on Music to Not Be Perfect
makeup drawer – Isaac Dunbar
“I shattered mirrors to cope / You made me hate what I saw.” Wow – that’s a powerful, telling lyrical excerpt. For teen alternative pop singer/songwriter Isaac Dunbar, the struggle is real, or, at the least, it was at one time. That struggle he experienced revolved around his sexuality – being and living true to self despite social stigmas and such. On the brilliant, colorful record at hand, “Makeup Drawer,” Dunbar reflects on embracing his truth, and atoning for internalized homophobia, a prevalent issue within the LGBTQ+ individuals. Regarding “Makeup Drawer,” Dunbar explained what the song was about via his Instagram account:
“This song is about the struggle I had my whole life with internalized homophobia. My sexuality was outed by someone I thought I could trust most. I hated myself because I was not surrounded by the right support system at the time.”
Butterfly With Wet Wings – Bry’nt
“Someone’s life is another one’s lesson”, Bry’nt says in the beginning of this song.
In “Butterfly with wet wings”, rapper Bry’nt addresses real life hardships and conflicts, with the help of Leikeli47’s beautiful vocals, and smooth, mind-expanding instrumentals.
Come on, the instrumentals alone would be the perfect tune for you to lay in your bed while watching the rain falling on a beautiful garden through your window… And speaking about gardens, let’s not forget the lyrics too, because the metaphor of a butterfly with wet wings is actually perfect.
The butterfly is a symbol of strength and grace.
When we see a butterfly, we do not see all the transformations she had to endure to get where she is. All we see is her colourful wings, as she gracefully flies. But even the most beautiful butterfly has hard times. Sometimes it rains and it gets harder to fly (“I know this rain got you feeling weighed down / Like a butterfly with wet wings”).
Rain, however, comes from nature; it’s a part of the cycle of life, and that’s how it should be embraced: as a natural thing that does not stop us from flying “Yes you may have even touched the ground / But it’s alright / You can still fly”) , and instead makes us stronger to fly when the sun and the rainbow comes.
Read the full write up on Music to Dali & Jay-Z Lovers
Glad to Be Gay – Tom Robinson Band
In the week of Valentine’s Day 1978, an anthemic and yet shocking protest song on a 4-track live EP sneaked under the radar to become a Top 20 hit in Britain. It was a song in which The Tom Robinson Band shamed a nation with a first-hand account of the abject indignity of being gay in 1970s Britain.
The song is pregnant with irony. After all, who could be “glad” to be born this way, when it means a lifetime of prejudice and discrimination, a life in which you may be rejected by your own family, have your career cut short by innuendo and in which the establishment has a legal right to intrude on your privacy?
And brilliantly, rather than lash out at the bigots, Tom Robinson uses their own words to undermine them. “The British Police are the best in the world,” begins the first verse as Tom tells an “unbelievable” story about the persecution of beating of innocent gay men, ending with a denial that calls to mind Nazi wartime collaborators and sends a shiver down the spine: “I don’t believe that sort of thing happens here”.
Read the full write up on Music to Fight Evil
STFU! – Rina Sawayama
STFU! Yeah, it’s a pretty cut and dry acronym needing little to no explanation. That said, just in case you missed it or are totally naïve, STFU stands for shut the fuck up. Charming to the nth degree. Japanese-born British musician Rina Sawayama lays it right out there for the world on “STFU,” a highlight from her 2020 debut album, SAWAYAMA. Basically, for the haters, she has something for you in the form of lyrical middle fingers. Here, Rina atones for those judgmental souls – “You’re preaching even though I’m dead / Like the first time, I’m in my prime” – who’ve previously brought her down and criticized her in the past. How does she do so? Through strength and of course, the F-BOMB!
Read the full write up on Music to Atone To
Chillo È Nu Buono Guaglione – Remastered 2008 – Pino Daniele
I share an Italian song dated 1979 from Pino Daniele, one of the most famous Italian southern songwriters.
Aside from being one of the first songs speaking about the topic, in the very conservative context of southern Italy, there is so much to like in “Chillo E’ Nu Buono Guaglione” (this literally means “He is a good guy” in Napoli’s dialect).
In the first part of the song, Daniele describes the transgender protagonist with the eyes of the community, the street view of the conservative people in Napoli at the end 70’s. They almost feel sorry for her: he is a good guy but he is just a bit homosexual. He goes out at night to work on the streets, but still believes in love.
The song transforms totally when “Teresa” takes the word and shows how fierce she is. She wants to get money for surgery and imagine her life to be as normal as everyone else’s: going for grocery, inviting friends home for parties without the police coming over, shouting out loud “I am normal” with nobody turning their heads. With the eyes of today, Daniele paints this picture without even sounding forceful or loud about such a difficult topic for the time.
Such a powerful statement of independence and freedom
NEW MAGIC WAND – Tyler, The Creator
“I need to get her out the picture / She’s really fuckin’ up my frame / She’s not developed like we are.” Hmm, those are some truly intriguing lyrics from Tyler, The Creator. Tyler has been the poster child of controversy many times throughout his career. His homophobic rhymes were quite offensive early on, but then, he would drop hints about his own sexuality. After opening up about sexuality on his Grammy-nominated 2017 album Flower Boy, his 2019 follow-up, IGOR, continues to find him referencing it. Specifically, on the song at hand, “New Magic Wand,” Tyler seems to be trying to sort things out regarding his relationship.
Read the full write up on Music to Atone To
Sofia – Clairo
“Know that it isn’t right, but you could be my one and only.” What alt-pop artist Clairo (Claire Cottrill) is referencing is her attraction – her same-sex attraction. On her mature debut album, Immunity, she tackles a host of topics, including two songs that explore sexuality. The aforementioned quote hails from the first of the two songs, “Softly.” On “Softly,” Cottrill questions her feelings towards a particular, nameless girl before asserting at the end, “And I don’t care what they say / … Baby, I’m doing it differently.” That’s where our song at hand, the energetic “Sofia,” comes into play. Essentially, she atones for hiding sexuality by being overt about it and embracing it.
Who better to explain her intent with “Sofia” than Clairo herself, via tweet:
“‘Sofia’ is about my first ever crushes on women I saw in the media. People like Sofia Coppola, Sofia Vergara, etc. This was my way of making a celebratory song about this discovery while maintaining the cheesy/corny lyrics you’d normally find in songs where you profess your love.”
Read the full write up on Music to Atone To
Skinny Boys – Myylo
“I know that it’s so easy to let your body get you down.” Truer words have never been spoken, Myylo. The thing is, more often than not, it is women who seem to discuss their body insecurities as opposed to men. For the men, there’s almost a notion that masculinity should eradicate emotions. It’s simply not true, and Nashville-based, LGBTQ pop musician Myylo tackles it head on with his anthem for boys of all shapes and sizes, “Skinny Boys.” He masterfully navigates a gray area, and empowers men, many of which have their own body insecurities, even if they fail to admit to them.
Read the full write up on Music to Atone To
Pink Pony Club – Chappell Roan
I’m adding “pink pony club” by chapell roan! This song is all about how she came to California and felt free to be her full self at a gay club that’s nicknamed pink pony. And it’s the war inside of feeling like yourself, even if those around don’t understand or accept it.
Chappell Roan is openly queer and this was her first album where she used ‘she’ pronouns to talk about her relationships. The single released in 2020 and didn’t get the traction the record label wanted, then dropped her. It’s only now in the last year or so that her songs are blowing up. Such a beautiful artist getting the recognition she deserves, while staying true to herself.
Paracetamol – Declan McKenna
“There’s a girl, fifteen, with her head in a noose / Because she’s damned to live, well she’s damned to choose.” Chilling lyrics. Shockingly, the lyrics were penned by a teenager, British singer/songwriter Declan McKenna. Oft times, teen musicians are associated with ‘bubblegum’ music, perceived to lack any semblance of depth or transcendence. That’s not the case with McKenna on “Paracetamol,” which appears on his Liar (EP) (2016) and is reprised on his debut album, What Do You Think About the Car? (2017). According to McKenna’s interview with Wonderland Magazine, the title refers to “transgender conversion therapy… a metaphor for someone saying that there is a cure for being who you are.”
Read the full write up on Music to Atone To
SOHO – Jaden
Young Jaden is timing up with NYC’s iconic neighbourhood to bring you the vibe to get hyped up.
The track is off his The Sunset Tapes: A cool Tape Story album. It was released through MSFTSMusic and Roc Nation, under the partnership between Interscope and ic Records.
Jaden has become an icon by doing things that no one else will do. ‘Audace’ he has. The young rapper consistently defies expectations. Whether he’s exclusively releasing music via IGTV or seeming to reveal himself to be LGBTQ in an often homophobic industry, it’s become normal to expect the unexpected from Jaden.
Read the full write up on Music to Vibe Out To
Pluto – Jake Wesley Rogers
I’m adding a powerful track by Jack Wesley Rodgers. Not only is his voice incredible, these lyrics stood out to me. It’s such a powerful song that really talks for itself. These lyrics convey a powerful message of self-acceptance and embracing one’s true identity. It really empowers listeners to embrace their true selves with a strong message of acceptance and self-love throughout. This aligns perfectly with the spirit of Pride, and it’s even more powerful live, check it out.
STUD – Troye Sivan
“What’s it like to be so big and strong / And so buff? / Everything I’m not / But could I still be a hunk to you?” Insecurity and vulnerability are two things that far too infrequently associated with men. Masculinity can definitely be toxic and discourage the expression of genuine emotions. Troye Sivan takes things a step further. The openly gay South African/Australian pop singer unleashes ‘a lot to unpack’ on “STUD,” a highlight from his 2020 EP, In a Dream. Essentially on “STUD”, he seeks to atone for insecurity, self-esteem issues, and of course those ‘matters of the heart.’
On the surface level, “STUD” finds Sivan admiring the perfect specimen. “You got all the muscles and features I want,” he sings on the first verse, continuing, “And I want what I want my love.” The lust is real for Sivan, but also, there’s the letdown of (1) not being able to be with this person let alone (2) be this person. At the top, the lyrics highlighted touch on body dysmorphia, which affects all men but particularly gay men. Troye wants to connect with this Adonis, but he also feels inferior because he’s not as ‘perfect’ as far as physique is concerned.
Read the full write up on Music to Atone To
Georgia – Brittany Howard
“I just want Georgia to notice me / I just want Georgia.” No, Brittany Howard isn’t referencing the southern state, but rather a crush named Georgia. Brittany Howard, best known as the frontwoman of Grammy-winning alternative collective Alabama Shakes, hasn’t previously dived into sexuality. On “Georgia,” the third track from her critically acclaimed solo debut album, Jaime, she addresses same-sex attraction head-on. “Georgia,” hence, atones for more conservative views of sexuality, particularly those who grew up in the south.
While Brittany Howard uses “Georgia” to open up about her sexuality, she goes through some of relatable issues that plague the LGBTQ+ community in regard to coming out. On the first verse of this thoughtful ballad, she asserts, “I’m afraid to tell you how I really feel.” Whenever we are forced to confess or confront something, regardless if it’s as deep as gender, identity, or sexuality issues, fear is common.
Read the full write up on Music to Atone To
Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America – The 1975
Couldn’t end this list without the incomparable Phoebe Bridges singing truth to the easily shocked
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