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How artists express themselves through music and how the year they release it affects their message.

Created by: Lauren Fulford, Shelby Gaskill, & Melissa Howard

1) “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga (2011)

  • Lady Gaga wrote this song before marriage equality became a law in the US and she wanted to express the meaning of her lyrics to help people in the gay community rather than keeping it hidden.  
  • It is unclear when Lady Gaga first came out as bisexual, but she has always expressed her sexuality in her songs, specifically her songs called “Poker Face” and “Born This Way.” During a release party for her new album in 2013, she publicly confirmed that her sexuality is not a secret, and that she does express it in her music. Through her openness, Gaga has helped many of her fans feel comfortable with themselves and their sexuality. 
  • Gaga specifically mentions how some people may not include her as a person in the LGBTQ community. Gaga responded to The Pink News by saying “It’s not a lie that I am bisexual and I like women, and anyone that wants to twist this into ‘she says she’s bisexual for marketing’, this is a f**king lie” (Lady Gaga). It was also mentioned by The Pink News how her sexuality is twisted by people so much to the point Gaga had to publicly address how she has always been bisexual and that is who she is. 
  • Gaga wrote the lyrics, “There’s nothing wrong with loving who you are.” Gaga wrote these lyrics to help her listeners know that no matter your sexuality or how society views you, you are perfect and should love who you are. 

2) “Boyfriend” by Dove Cameron (2022)

  • Dove Cameron wrote this song with the intention of stating how in a relationship, women are better than men due to how her past relationships went. Recently, Dove Cameron also came out as queer which influenced this song. 
  • Dove Cameron came out as queer about two years ago. She explained in an interview with Gay Times how she always gave clues about her sexuality but was too scared to say it directly. Cameron was forced to come out to her fans after being accused of queerbaiting. After Cameron came out, she talked about how much she influenced her fans to come out as well because they felt comfortable with her. Now Cameron’s music is more straightforward about her sexuality in hopes of helping others feel more comfortable. 
  • Cameron realized the music industry has changed so much for the LGBTQ community and has given them more room to be themselves with their music. 
  • Cameron wrote the lyrics, “Ladies first, baby, I insist,” and “I can be a better boyfriend than him,” stating that she, herself could be a better partner to this female than that female’s boyfriend is currently. Cameron wants to show that women can be amazing partners to other women and that it doesn’t always have to be a man and a woman in a relationship.

3) “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry (2008)

  • Katy Perry wrote this song after a night of clubbing when she kissed a girl and ended up liking it. She wrote this song and released it because it would have meaning to people in the LGBTQ+ community as it talks about a homosexual public display of affection.
  • When Katy Perry released “I Kissed a Girl,” it was her first time opening up about her sexuality. The song caused fans to start questioning her about her sexuality since they were now unsure of it. Perry participated in interviews and stated how her first love was when she was only fifteen years old and it happened to be her friend. However, Perry grew up in a time where being homosexual was very frowned upon. As a consequence, while she attended church camp, she would pray to be heterosexual. Until she met some people who showed her that her sexuality would be accepted by most people in this day and age of time. However, there are still people who are not accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. Perry is now advocating for change in hopes that people will open up their minds. 
  • Perry used the lyrics “I kissed a girl and I liked it,” to share that she does in fact like girls. She specifically wrote these lyrics to show that it is okay for people to like people of their gender. 

4) “Girls/Girls/Boys” by Panic! at the Disco (2013)

  • “Girls/Girls/Boys” explores bisexuality and stresses the importance of holding a truthful sexual identity, celebrating the courage it takes to live publicly.
  • “Girls/Girls /Boys” was co-written by Brendon Urie and Dallon Weekes. Throughout Urie’s career, he has been labeled straight, gay, or bisexual until 2018 when he came out as pansexual. However, before that, he never made any statement about his sexuality but also never hid his sexuality and showed support for the LGBTQ+ community, and believed sexual fluidity should be celebrated. Urie shows support and a lack of prejudice towards the community through his views and music. So when “Girls/Girls /Boys” came out in 2013 a lot of speculation about his sexuality was made.
  • The song is about Urie liking a bisexual woman who’s in a relationship with another woman. The lyrics “I am just a villain vying for attention from a girl, a girl who can’t decide,” imply that the woman can’t decide between Urie or the other woman. Many think that he’s implying that bisexuality can be defined as not making a decision however that isn’t the point of the lyrics. Later in the song, he says “Love is not a choice,” an idea completely embodying the values of the LGBTQ+ community. Urie then states in an interview that “the perfect summarisation of that song is in the lyric, ‘love is not a choice,’ I believe that.” He also explains how he doesn’t understand the need for labels  and that people should just be allowed to love who they want to love.” He also says “It’s interesting what people do when they don’t have a way to label something. They freak out and have this need to separate everything into predetermined boxes.” So, what he means is that he doesn’t understand the need for people to try to label someone when they don’t understand or have an answer. He does believe in labels within the LGBTQ community but thinks that they shouldn’t have to label themselves just because of society’s expectations.

5) “Cool for the Summer” by Demi Lovato (2015)

  • Demi Lovato wrote this song about wanting to experience a relationship with another woman and not caring about what other people have to say. Lovato states that she wrote this song about a relationship she had with another famous woman.
  • Lovato said that she always knew that she was queer growing up but living in the South and being Christian there were a lot of norms pushed onto her. This affected her relationship with gender identity and also her sexuality. This led her to be confused about herself for most of her life. She came out to her parents as bisexual at age 25. Then, in 2021, Lovato said she was non-binary and pansexual, initially using pronouns before returning to she/her in the present moment. After coming out as non-binary she says “–it’s just felt like my truth has been living my life as loudly as possible without a care in the world.”
  • “Cool for the Summer” was released in 2015 and it was the first musical instance Lovato mentioned anything about her sexuality to the public without telling what her sexuality was. In her lyrics, “Tell me what you want / What you like / It’s okay / I’m a little curious too,” she tells the other woman that it’s okay to be curious and that there’s nothing wrong with it. However, she is still worried about what other people might say, “I can keep a secret. Can you?” In the song, Lovato negotiates what it means to be herself while struggling with societal expectations of who she should be. It also shows the amount of growth that Lovato has by writing this song and coming out to her family, friends, and fans without having to come out officially.

6) “1950” by King Princess (2018)

  • King Princess wrote this song about the love in their life since queer love used to only exist privately and was expressed through coded art forms. They also wanted to acknowledge and pay homage to the decade it was named after, which could be referring to the 1950 Lavender scare. The Lavender scare refers to a “witch hunt” of homosexual people in the 1950s by the US government. They don’t ever announce that is what they are referring to many just assume since that was a major event in the 1950s for the LGBTQ community. However, the song is also a tribute to the 1952 novel The Price of Salt, by Patricia Highsmith, which depicts a lesbian love story, to the LGBTQ Community and queer love.  They state that “ The Price of Salt really stuck with me because it’s just a beautiful story, and I think what I loved about it was it took place in the ‘50s and the way that queer people were allowed to be public was so censored it and it was all about body language and this kind of icy interaction because you had to hide yourself.”
  • King Princess identifies as genderqueer and as gay, using they/them pronouns. They have always been open about their identity and sexuality. Before writing “1950,” they were reading a lot of gay literature and The Price of Salt stood out to them since it took place in the 50s and how queer love was so different from queer love today. In the 50s, queer people had to hide themselves and act straight in public. King Princess wanted to play into the parallel between the metaphor of 1950 being how queer love looks in public and how it’s similar to having a cold relationship. They state that while talking about The Prince of Salt, “– so I was interested in the parallel between the metaphor of 1950 being how queer love looks in public and how it’s very similar to having a very cold relationship.” We see this when they say, “ It’s so cold that your stare’s ‘bout to kill me. I’m surprised when you kiss me,”  showing how the other person is acting coldly towards them and they’re shocked when they kiss. Also in the lyrics, “ So bold, make them know that you’re with me. Stone cold, will you miss me?” King Princess wants people to know that they’re together, but they know it can’t happen and that they can’t be together. In the chorus, they said that they’ll wait for them and their love even though the other person isn’t willing to because of society.

7) “Younger Me” by Brothers Osborne (2020)

  • The lead singer of the duo, T.J. Osborne wrote this song to his younger self. T.J. recently came out as gay, and used this song to express his sexuality and provide encouragement that he wished he could have told his younger self.
  • T.J. Osborne knew he was gay from a young age, but was nervous to reveal his sexuality due to the fame he and his brother had gained in the country music world. Even with this fear, he announced that he was gay on the stage when his song won a Grammy award. At the time of his “coming out”, he was the first and only country music singer signed to a country music label to identify as a gay man. 
  • T.J. reflects on the time he spent “closeted” and throughout the song gives his younger self wisdom. The chorus of the song is “Youth ain’t wasted on the young/These trips around the sun, I needed every one/To get to where I’m standing” which represents the time it took T.J. to learn to accept himself and be himself around people especially those he loves. The main reason he wrote this song was to give younger people the motivation to be themselves and give them hope that self-realization and acceptance is the hardest part, but that everything gets better once you learn to accept all of the personal and outside factors that play into being a gay man.

8) “People Like Us” by Kelly Clarkson (2012)

  • Clarkson wrote this song as a reminder that everyone chooses their own path of life. The song talks about coming out and after doing so, how life changes.
  • Kelly Clarkson’s main focus in this song is informing listeners of the difficulties of acceptance and inclusion. This may come as a shocking topic to some of her listeners because Clarkson is not gay. However, she is an advocate for the queer community.
  • In her song, one of the most popular lines is “here’s to the damned, to the lost and forgotten”. This line reminds the audience that everyone comes into the world with a purpose. Though the purpose may not be known until much later in one’s life, they make their own path and advocate for themselves. She also reminds her listeners that no one is alone in this world and someone will always be there and support you no matter what you identify as or what lifestyle you want to pursue.

9) “Brave” by Sara Bareilles (2013)

  • Bareilles wrote this song while helping her friend “come out”. She expresses her friends’ thoughts through lyrics like “Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live” and “Let your words be anything but empty” to reassure her friend that everything will be okay when she decides to “come out”. She wanted to inspire her friend to be herself and not to worry about what other people thought of her. The lyrics of the song go further to express love and support for her friend. 
  • “Brave” was written by Sara Bareilles about one of her close friends that was gay and struggling to come out. This song also serves as encouragement to young people and teens to come out and be their authentic selves in hopes to decrease their thoughts and feelings of isolation and provide them with hope and support.
  • The chorus of the song is “Say what you wanna say/ And let the words fall out/ Honestly, I wanna see you be brave”. These lyrics are encouraging to the audience and feel empowering not only to the queer community, but also other individuals who may be struggling in other aspects of their life.

Theme

  • Since 2008, artists have been writing and performing songs that tell their stories, or stories about those they care about in hopes to encourage others to be their true authentic selves. Every artist interpreted the meaning of their songs differently. Some artists were more straightforward than others. A few reasons some artists were more straightforward than others include, artists already being out versus artists who were in the closet. But another reason is that record labels or the media have not always been accepting of homosexuality. As the years have progressed, the media has become very accepting of different sexualities. 
  • Every song from our list uses lyrics that are generally straightforward about what the message the artist is trying to get across. Thematically, all of our songs are connected in the way that the artists are trying to help friends and fans be comfortable with their sexuality, no matter what it is, and what others think doesn’t matter.

Works Cited

Wikipedia, https://www.kare11.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-tonight/kelly-clarkson-says-everyone-thought-i-was-gay-because-i-wasnt-married/89-336249198. 

“Brothers Osborne make emotional speech for ‘Younger Me’: Grammys 2022.” The Tennessean, 3 April 2022, https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/04/03/grammys-2022-brothers-osborne-make-emotional-speech-younger-me/7264130001/. 

Contributor, Grazia. “Katy Perry Opens Up About Accepting Her Sexuality – Grazia.” Grazia Daily, 14 September 2023, https://graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/katy-perry-sexuality-lgtb-speech/. 

“Demi Lovato reveals how she came out to her parents when she was 25.” The Independent, 19 July 2023, https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/demi-lovato-pansexual-coming-out-b2378190.html. 

“Dove Cameron Opens Up About Being Queer.” Teen Vogue, 29 May 2021, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/dove-cameron-opens-up-about-being-queer. 

Freeman, Jon. “Brothers Osborne’s ‘Younger Me’: Hear New Song.” Rolling Stone, 16 April 2021, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/brothers-osborne-younger-me-tj-osborne-1156816/. 

Grebenyuk, Yana. “Demi Lovato’s Coming Out Journey: Everything They’ve Said.” Us Weekly, 20 August 2022, https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/demi-lovatos-coming-out-journey-everything-theyve-said/. 

“Katy Perry opens up about her sexuality, ‘I was curious.’” ABC News, 19 March 2017, https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/katy-perry-opens-sexuality-curious/story?id=46238811. 

“Kelly Clarkson – People Like Us Lyrics.” Genius, https://genius.com/Kelly-clarkson-people-like-us-lyrics. 

Malchicoff, Mike. “King Princess – 1950 Lyrics.” Genius, 23 February 2018, https://genius.com/King-princess-1950-lyrics. 

“1950 | King Princess Wiki | Fandom.” King Princess Wiki, https://kingprincess.fandom.com/wiki/1950.

Sciarretto, Amy. “Sara Bareilles, ‘Brave’ – Song Meaning.” PopCrush, 18 November 2013, https://popcrush.com/sara-bareilles-brave-song-meaning/. 

Stumme, Clifford. “What does “Cool for the Summer” by Demi Lovato mean? — The Pop Song Professor.” The Pop Song Professor, 22 July 2015, https://www.popsongprofessor.com/blog/2015/07/22/what-does-cool-for-the-summer-by-demi-lovato-mean.

Theil, Michele. “Lady Gaga: Poker Face is an ode to bisexuality.” PinkNews, 30 October 2021, https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/10/30/lady-gaga-poker-face-bisexuality/. 

Winwood, Skye W. “’Girls/Girls/Boys’; LGBT anthem or insult? The debate.” MUSIC NEWS TODAY, 31 July 2017, https://musicnews2dayblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/31/girlsgirlsboys-lgbt-anthem-or-insult-the-debate/.

Wong, Curtis M., and Chelsea Lauren. “Panic! At The Disco Frontman Wants Sexual Fluidity To ‘Be Celebrated.’” HuffPost, 5 September 2014, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brendon-urie-sexuality_n_5774292.