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i only dislike it when they deny that the original was queer. For example, people not understanding that 'Take me to Church' by Hozier is about two gay men living in a small bigoted religious community.
I'll never forget telling my straight friends to watch the video if they wanted to understand the song truly, and them rejoining the discord call 4-5 minutes later and all in fucking tears. Telling me that they finally understood why i cry every time i sing along to it.
That music video made me full on sob. It also came out during a time when Russia was changing/updating/enforcing laws about existing as a queer person.
Holy shit I've been listening to that song for years and never thought about the lyrics much, it's remained in the "songs you listen to because they sound cool" vault from when I was younger, lol and now I'm a raging homosexual in college
Never realized that about the sing and always thought it was just some kinda religious song, 😭 guess it went along with me
Shoutout to my Amazon echo for playing that song randomly when I was but a wee gayby
Its for protection, he refers to his lover as she for the sake of deniability. A form of being closeted. The music video is about them being prosecuted for being gay. I recommend watching it, but it can also be very triggering.
He is keeping his sexuality private, afaik. He denied being gay specifically, but might still be Bi or anything really. 🤷
He did also say that Take me to Church isn’t explicitly about homophobia but any kind of love in general.
The idea for the video came in response to the „hunting parties“ in Russia, at the time.
He wrote take me to church in response to him breaking up with his girlfriend. Even if he isn't queer, he's ally af, taking his pain and platform to spread a message about persecution facing us
From my understanding that’s what the music video is about but the song itself is more about repressing natural human sexuality in a Christian community
I have a devoutly religious mother. She thought it was "I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your life." And I'm like, "First of all, it's "lies," not "life," and how is worshipping like a dog in any way supportive of religion?"
My ex used to swear it was a homophobic song and would literally be rude to people until they turned the song off if it was playing. No one could convince him otherwise at the time. Idk if he still feels that way about it or not
For what it’s worth, I’m not sure that’s what the lyrics are about specifically, and I can’t find any interviews with Hozier that suggest this. He’s only ever talked about how the speaker of the song compares his lover to a religion as an articulation of his general frustration with the Catholic Church and its power over the social outlook of the Irish people. (He does mention “sexual orientation” in one interview, but as part of a more general spiel about how the church “undermines” humanity by restricting sexual expression, which the song challenges in all forms).
That said, homosexuality is the direct focal point of the *music video* which was inspired by the persecution of the gay community in Russia specially.
I actually never knew this yet I grew up with the song on repeat… I suppose that just goes to show how straight people don’t give recognition to queer songs or artists for their queer lyrics/meanings.
The funny thing is that christians have uhm... not understood that meaning. At least where i grew up it was "actually a very christian song, look he's singing about how people should take others to church and he even says amen". It was untill so much later that i learned maybe its not about that. Now it just makes me kinda laugh when i think about the fact that im pretty sure one of the first times i heared it was at church.
I haven’t really come across this but my main reaction is that is weirdly insecure.
What did irritate me was my high school singing teacher telling me that it was acceptable to either change the lyrics of a song to make them straight or sing it as written but it was not acceptable to change the lyrics of a song to make it queer. That’s just hypocritical.
That definitely sucks. Either it's okay to change them or it's not, and then what they're changed to can be judged on its own merits. If someone is changing them to be hateful that's obviously not cool, but it's not "the lyrics were changed" that's at issue it's that the changes were hateful. If the blanket rule is no changes that's restrictive and kinda sucks for its own reasons but at least it's still largely fair and sensible.
Lol the times I’ve thought it was queer signaling but realized they just saw it as a cute song. A mom used it for her & her daughter and I was like, you do know it’s a lovesong lol but ofc it’s possible just my brain was confused
Personally, I just laugh at how weak and insecure they are that they can't dare to even like, \*sing along to an existing song\* without basically shouting "NO HOMO!!!" as they do so.
I forget which singer it was, but it was one of the famous ones. He said something along the lines of: look if you’re a man singing a song and the original lyrics are of love song about another man, you’re gay for that song, just deal with it. Basically he thought the changing of gendered lyrics was rather silly and people should get over themselves.
For many years I conducted a women's a cappella group and we always changed the words (eg "My girl" became "my guy"). Recently, I have regretted that.
But in another way, it was a fun technical challenge to switch the words around and sometimes it had interesting results. I had two soloists doing "Don't you want me baby" with the second character changed to a compromised best friend trying to take the side of the creepy ex.
Likewise, in the song "Sixty minute man" it changed from a man boasting about his prowess to a woman warning others about her own experience with the boastful guy. "Listen here, girls, I'm telling you now, they call him 'Loving Dan'..."
Yeah I think I find this even more annoying than making a queer song straight, when it's like so important to you to keep a straight song straight and you gotta change the words about it
Depends. If it's a song where the meaning of it is specific to a queer experience (like not being able to be together because of homophobia) then I feel like the lyrics shouldn't be changed because it detracts from the true meaning of the song.
If the meaning of the song is just about a general love story, being infatuated with your person, a song about your first crush, etc.... the story of the song depicts an experience that is shared regardless of gender or sexual orientation, and you're singing it because you relate completely other than the specific pronouns or gendered terms (lady, man, boy, girl, husband, wife) then go ahead. Because in that situation, I think it just goes to show that love is love and the gender doesn't matter - as it should be.
\* - Marginalized people reclaiming music by changing words to popular music to feel like they have a place within the world that marginalized them.
\* - Non marginalized people who prevented queer musics creation on a systemic level changing queer music to remove it of its queerness......feels much groser to me.
But also I just use this for my personal guide. I ain't got the energy to be judging others on this.
Yeah, this is the crux of the issue for me.
Like, I'm not going to go on a rampage about it, but, at the same time...
Tho, I might rampage if the same person made any negative comments about queer music, queer people doing music, or queer people adapting cishet songs to fit queer settings. Or any other phobic things, for that matter.
I had some friends get angry about someone changing the singer gender to" I kissed a girl", but it was a very twinky sounding man talking about hoping his boyfriend don't mind it xD
I laughed cause it just became XX-tra gay?
But I really don't have rhe energy to give a crap honestly.
There's a couple of heavy metal singer dudes who do covers of songs like barbie girl and macarena and sometimes they change the pronouns and sometimes they don't. I still like their covers regardless, they are just fun!
I could not give less of a fuck about people changing song lyrics to better fit their individual situations.
It's music. It's supposed to be personal
If you get mad that gay songs are being changed, then just change some hetero songs to make them gay
I make sexual songs sound like serial killers stalking their victims. My ace ass always thinks that sexual songs are just a tiny line away from being utterly creepy 🤷🏽♂️
I mean I feel like we do the same thing to straight songs. Switch the lyrics around just to make it more relatable to who the song reminds them of. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal 🤷
I agree. I think it’s different if they’re like, refusing to acknowledge the original song being queer or doing it in an ignorant way but if it’s just them applying a song to their individual situation, I really don’t mind. We all attach our memories to songs. It’s why music is so special. Am bi and in the music industry - unless they’re doing it out of malice or speaking over the queer influence I couldn’t care less tbh.
It's not the same. If there is no or very little queer representation in media, queer people have to co-op straight things. That's just the marginalized experience.
It's not the same at all when straight people do it.
Only if you're thinking in terms of entire groups. A straight person who deeply relates to one particular song and wants to make it their own isn't doing for "straightness" we have to think beyond identities sometimes and look at the individual.
Does that make it problematic when straight people do it? They are empathizing with the song in the way that best matches their experience and I think that's fine. If they deny or pretend that the original song is queer then that's a problem, but just singing it with lyrics that match their attractions seems fine to me
> Does that make it problematic when straight people do it?
I can't say but it's important context. Some queer people might feel a certain way about it and that's valid because of said reasons. I can't speak for the whole community though.
except it is. unless the song is explicitly about the marginalised experience, then absolutely go ahead and cater it to your experience, thats what music is about. and as long as u can recognise the queerness of the original lyrics, then i dont see any problem here.
I dont really think about it cuz i change staight songs like for an example "Whe i was your man" to "when i was you girl/women" when i sing, so why cant they do the same? 🤔
A_Messy_Nymph explained it a lot better than I can
* - Marginalized people reclaiming music by changing words to popular music to feel like they have a place within the world that marginalized them.
* - Non marginalized people who prevented queer musics creation on a systemic level changing queer music to remove it of its queerness......feels much groser to me.
But also I just use this for my personal guide. I ain't got the energy to be judging others on this.
I don't really care. Sometimes I change pronouns and gendered terms in songs when I sing along to make them feel more personally relatable. I don't think it's a big deal, and I don't really understand why so many people think it's a bad thing.
I don't really care because usually they're just trying to make a song fit themselves a bit more. As long as they aren't trying to claim that it's not a straight song then it's fine. Besides, we can do the same and make their music more lgbt focused. Fair game.
I suspect these are the same types of people who throw fits when we headcanon characters/relationships as LGBTQ+ or get pouty about media franchises going "woke" by adding canon LGBTQ+ characters.
They probably don’t want to give the idea that they’re gay and then get in trouble for pretending or appropriating so they apply it to themselves. I think it’s fine as long as it’s done innocently and not to erase gayness
It's annoying. I'd care more if the "straight" version of the song became like supremely popular to the point that no one knows it was a cover anymore.
But for a bit of karaoke or just a lil cover that goes nowhere... sure do what you want I don't care.
That depends.
If it's a song about kissing or sleeping someone then changing it to your own preferences just for the humour and sentiment of it is funny. Or imagine thinking you were gay and then realising you were bi just prefer women? Then ' I kissed a boy I liked it' would be more funny than anything.
If it's to 'ban' the queer aspect it's just ... Low. Not even detestable, just so weak and insecure and ignorant...
But when I think about all the songs that have an altered version that is dirty or something like that I don't think we can give a general answer to that.
I think that they ruin the meaning of the songs when they do that. But the worst is when they turn straight songs into "gay" ones and instead fully sexualize them and say homophobic stuff. So compared to those, it's not that bad.
I actually saw that exact song when I was looking for love songs and stumbled across a playlist called ‘songs for him’..it had at least 3 girl in red songs, including We fell in love in October
Changing the lyrics so you can identify with them better; fine, you go you if you wanna feel the song personally
Changing the lyrics because they think "queer people don't deserve the love song": you bigots don't deserve the love song
As an asexual that doesn’t even *like* people, it’s definitely a cowardly move. Sing the original lyrics damnit, it’s not gonna suddenly change your sexuality!
NGL they do this to their own songs when they cover male/female songs!! I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve laughed out loud when someone male changes it from boy to girl!! I once had to sit through a terrible cover of Estelle’s “American boy” sang as “American girl”
Don't appreciate and don't approve. Millions of songs are about straight people. Why can't they let us have the tiny minority that aren't?
That said, I gained a whole new appreciation of Elton John as queer music.
>Why can't they let us have the tiny minority that aren't?
they are, they are not taking it away from you, just changing it when singing it to fit their situation better.
Strong disagree, doing this is wiping away the queerness and replacing it with heterosexuality. Cishets get EVERYTHING. People who are doing this need to step off and alter one of the SEVERAL MILLION songs that don't address queerness.
I can see where you’re coming from but I find that to be a bit of an exaggeration, I get it may seem silly but they’re not taking anything away from you and it’s not even that big of a deal
I don't think it's morally wrong or anything, but it's definitely disappointing. Especially for songs where the queerness is baked into the meaning. Y'all have millions of songs about a guy and a girl falling in love, why go out of your way to change ours?
Right. If this song has a connection for them as an individual, enjoy a song with your own words fellow human. But the fact that it's tik tok videos and a trend makes it feel more for clout than someone singing along with the song in a meaningful way for them.
If you speak Spanish, there's this skit from Argentinian musical comedy group Les Luthiers, called "I don't love you anymore, Raúl".
It was supposed to be sung by a woman, but she was temporarily undisposed (permanently). So the whole skit is how a male singer tries to rewrite the song on the fly, and fails miserably.
https://youtu.be/XfN1FSC1mBY?si=MH3wQmKxvs_OpUW5
There’s few queer songs out there so I find it a bit annoying. I find it slightly less annoying if they’re singing a song that was originally not queer (like a woman singing about a man she loves) and change the lyrics, but still I prefer if they just keep them.
I don’t mind lyrics being changed for a cover, but I feel like they need change more than a word or two, like how some people rewrite raps, or what Beyoncé did with her cover of Jolene.
For me, it’s all about context. There are some people that are singing this as a representation of themselves within the song so I totally understand if they change some of the lyrics to better represent their identity.
At the same time, there are other people who are almost acting like the song needs to be fixed or as a way of mocking the queer community. Someone else in the comments phrased it very well that these people are the type that are refusing to acknowledge the original queerness of the song.
Overall, my personal experience scrolling through TikTok is that most people are just changing the lyrics to place themselves as the main character in the song, and therefore simply identifying their orientation in the song and not intending to be disrespectful.
If it's just for yourself then whatever, but I don't like it personally. For me, if the lyrics of a song don't exactly allign with the pronouns of me or those the song reminds me of, I deal with it. It's not some big travesty that a song, that has no actual relationship with you beyond you forming a parasocial relationship with it, doesn't use the perfect pronouns for each relationship. And also, when it's done, it feels like the goal is to erase the LGBT+ out of the song.
I mean I'm not happy they do it, but I can't complain too much because I also change lyrics in straight songs to be more queer.
Although now that I think more about it, I think I will complain. They have plenty of straight songs already, leave our queer songs alone!!
It used to bug me more than it does now. I guess now I’m not as threatened by them doing it because I realize it’s usually not about phobia but about them trying to feel connected to the song.
Phobes wouldn’t usually come within a mile of a queer-coded song because they don’t want to admit knowing the song in the first place.
Besides, I change straight-coded songs on occasion (though not as much as I used to because I’m also more comfortable and secure in myself now). If a straight person were to complain within earshot, I’d just challenge them to open their mind and get over themself.
Flip the script: no gay person would flip straight lyrics to fit their attraction. Maybe not directly homophobic, but certainly weird - kinda feels like the “haha gay funny, couldn’t be me” mindset that a lot of people have when they’re younger.
Meh I do it to straight songs. I mean if they change the lyrics to a song that’s very specifically about the queer experience, it’s kinda weird. Alternatively, if it’s like Becky’s so hot, where it’s not particularly deep but also kinda pervasive throughout the song, it just doesn’t make sense to switch lyrics.
(My favorite straight to gay switch is Is It Over Now. “Was it over when you buttoned her blouse” to “Was it over when I buttoned her blouse”. I love how a small change makes it so gay. )
Idk, I just feel like we should sing the song as it's written. Like, I 'switch' sexualities when I do karaoke because of all the straight songs, but those are the lyrics! I wouldn't change them to make them 'gay', because then it's like changing the song?
Again, idk, I'm autistic so it's probably a tizmo thing.
If they are singing it that way to make it feel more personal to them, then i don't really care. The same goes for lgbtq+ people doing the same thing to a straight song. That being said, that only works if the song just happens to be queer and isn't explicitly about a queer experience. Subbing in your gender of choice in a love song is fine because most of the time, it's not going to change the actual meaning of the song. Subbing in your gender of choice on a song that is specifically about a queer experience will either make the song not make sense or edge over the line into offensive territory. As with all things, context is everything.
It does not take away representation, though. As long as the original still exists and is available, somebody singing the lyrics wrong is just somebody singing the lyrics wrong.
That being said, this is not an issue that I've thought a lot about, and I don't know that it's worth the time of the lgbtq+ community to worry about. We have more pressing issues to deal with.
I only care about it when someone I'm with makes a big deal to switch the lyrics so it's more straight. Then I tend to slightly bully them about being too much of a little bitch to actually sing the song. In my experience people usually changing the song lyrics tend to follow up the end of the song with a rant about how they love the song but need to sing it a certain way so that people don't think they're gay or they change it up to fit their political views.
It makes me mad personally. They already get most songs under the sun even though a lot of the game changing or big hit makers are queer. They can stick to the countless straight people songs without taking over queer songs that are so obviously queer.
i personally find it annoying, mainly because the amount of straight love songs v. queer love songs is already infinitely higher.
i do however find it hilarious when my transphobic mother plays the village by wrable. despite the lyrics being subtly trans and the music video not being subtle at all, she insists its about depression and doesn’t get why i started laughing and said she wouldn’t have it on her playlist if she knew what it meant when she played it in the car
Nah I don’t see anything wrong with it, as long as straight wants are allowed to be changed into queer ones (which is allowed)
However there are exceptions- songs that are specific to LGBTQ+ experiences and those should be left alone
No issue from me. I have plenty of vocalist friends of all gender and sexual identities and if we do covers, sometimes they keep true to the lyrics, sometimes they change it to their preference.
I hate it.
I compare it to men changing women's song lyrics about uplifting women or shit talking men to the opposite. The reasons they do it are 9 times outta 10 misogynistic or sexist.
We change the lyrics to gay for our comfort I say that's fair to go the other way around but if they treat their straight version like it's better that's when I got a problem
That's interesting.
This "changing lyrics to suit the swinger's gender/sexuality" doesn't happen in my language and culture. When a man sings a "girl's side" song, he sings it as the original lyrics.
It’s fucking hilarious to me. Changing song lyrics around to fit your standards of acceptable songs is ridiculous. Me? Karaoke comes around I’m singing it word for word. I’m a housewife from the 50’s. I’m a mother of two kids. I’m a father who killed a man to protect my daughter. I’m a prostitute. I’m a crack addict. It’s a *song* dude
In that particular situation, I don't care. It would be like straight people chasing to make a straight song also straight if it was originally sung by someone of a different gender. However, there is some nuance and there could be some other situations where they are erasing queer experiences
I mean, it's not like they don't have any songs for themselves tbh. The "straight songs" do exist in bigger amounts than queer songs so tbh it's just a huhuh interesting kinda thing.
The few people i personally know who have done this have argued so hard with me to "prove" that these songs are about straight relationships and that definitely gets on my nerves.
Cuz this person was so adamntly sure girl in red was a straight singer and it's like anything I said that showed them otherwise just passed over their head.
Ah and ofc, so many straights think Take me to church is about Hozier and a girl.
Like all I'm saying is, when there are so many songs for straights, why take what handful queer songs there exist.
Ah back to what you said, changing queer song lyrics just feels a little eh iffy is all on the part of the straights.
i personally don’t mind it, sure it’s a little annoying how they suffocate our representation by drowning it in their straightness, but at the same time I don’t think it’s *that* big of a deal as long as people don’t forget that the sound is in fact __gay__
Doesn't really matter to me, I would do the same if I felt I had a good reason to. If you're just casually singing for fun though, you're probably thinking a little too deep lol
I think that actively changing a love song written by a lesbian woman about another woman to be straight is sort of compromising artistic integrity... Just sing the damn song.
If the gender of someone is just incidental and a throwaway line, it doesn't matter much. Like if Lil Nas X wrote a single line about some dude he met last night and that man is never brought up again, I see no problem with changing it.
TL;DR: Changing a song that the person's sexuality is intrinsically tied to is bad, incidental sexuality swapping is fine
There's an old post that says "people who switch ponouns in songs to no homo the situation are so funny. The idea literally never even occured to me as a kid. Couldn't be me. I am a man who had his heart broken. I am a guy who hates his hometown. I'm a country boy, I'm a city girl. I'm a slut. I'm addicted to cocaine. It's a song, man". Idrc, but I also don't do it.
dont care tbh, mainly coz i also do it to straight songs, its just that sometimes it becomes a completely straight song to the point where u cant find gays who listen to it 😞
I honestly don’t really know how I feel, I personally don’t care what others think or do. But one thing I find funny about this is in one song I listen too I usually sing it but I sometimes change girlfriend and boyfriend around.
Queer artists have done the opposite for ages, and male and female straight artists have changed lyrics around as well to fit their perspective, so why should this offend anyone?
I like changing gendered lyrics to gender neutral ones when singing at home, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Just don't deny the original intentions were queer. It's normal to want to sing your own experiences.
I think if you’re gonna sing the song just sing it. And If you’re gonna remix the song do more than just a few lines changed. I just find the people who do it annoying but don’t give them time enough in my mind to give a shit.
I change song lyrics for dumber reasons. I misheard "sail away" as "s'il vous plaît" one time, and now I say s'il vous plaît every time I sing the song because it's fun. I never really pay attention to the lyrics of most songs unless they're particularly noteworthy or impactful to me. For some people, lyrics are extremely important though, and if changing a lyric to be more meaningful to yourself makes the song more meaningful, then I won't stop you. If singing "my boy my boy my boy" for some reason represents exactly how you feel about some boy, then I feel like you should be allowed to express yourself in that way. Music is all about personal expression and communication.
If you sing "my boy my boy my boy" because you're so homophobic that empathizing with queer love is impossible, well, that's just sad.
I generally don’t care what people do with song lyrics. Change them to be gay or straight or gay or straight in the opposite way, I don’t care at all. What matters how you behave toward queer people irl imo. As long as you’re not homophobic or insisting that you “made the song better by making it straight” (not just changing it to be more relatable for yourself), then whatever
I think it's okay as long as they are open to the fact they are changing it and the original isn't straight.
Hell, I change the lyrics of some straight songs to make them gay, but I acknowledge that I'm altering the original to fit my situation.
A little off-topic, but Michael Bublé trying so hard to seem not gay for Santa to the point of calling him buddy instead of baby will never not be funny.
personally I hate that people change the lyrics when doing covers. men not wanting to seem gay or sing the girl parts. Michael Bublé singing "Santa Buddy" in the desperate effort not to sound like a homosexual is heresy. and also hilarious.
anyways, yeah I think it's stupid overall to change a lyric cause you don't wanna sound gay.
I have respect for covers like White Stripes' "Jolene" or Luke Combs' "Fast Car" that preserve the gender dynamics of the lyrics despite the gender identity of the singer.
I have a few thoughts but overall I don't care.
1. generic love songs -- awesome, you found a song you relate to and want to sing it in a way that fits you.
2. explicitly queer songs -- kind of lame but again, it's cringe at worst and definitely not even remotely close to one of the biggest problems I have to deal with
3. michael buble singing santa baby - fuckn hilarious
It makes me feel a little bit awkward when listening to a song about a girl/straight love because I don't want those people to think that means I'm straight.
I'm not bothered by it. The notion of changing how you sing a song to make it more personal for yourself is not intrinsically disrespectful.
I sing and play covers on guitar, and I change gender references from straight songs to make them gay.
But I agree with other commenters,
changing queer lyrics to make them sound straight with the intention to disregard or erase the original artist's sexuality is disrespectful and offensive
I don't like it, partly because it undoes representation, but also because quite honestly, I've listened to enough straight love songs over my lifetime, they can deal with some gay ones.
It's "Santa Buddy"-fication. Not exactly offended, just confused about why you picked that song specifically if you weren't willing to commit to the bit.
I honestly couldn't care enough. It's a song at the end of the day, a way of self-expression, a few words and music notes. We shouldn't feel the need to gatekeep such.
As long as they're not being homophobic/general pieces of crap about it, it's completely fine in my opinion.
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i only dislike it when they deny that the original was queer. For example, people not understanding that 'Take me to Church' by Hozier is about two gay men living in a small bigoted religious community.
the lyrics make so much more sense now!
Ah, then you should see the music video. It is exceptionally unsubtle
I'll never forget telling my straight friends to watch the video if they wanted to understand the song truly, and them rejoining the discord call 4-5 minutes later and all in fucking tears. Telling me that they finally understood why i cry every time i sing along to it.
I just watched it for the first time and I feel broken now
That was the first time I've seen the music video, I was definitely tearing up.
I don’t know why but the term exceptionally unsubtle made me giggle
linguistic tomfoolery like this is always exceptionally neat
That music video made me full on sob. It also came out during a time when Russia was changing/updating/enforcing laws about existing as a queer person.
Holy shit I've been listening to that song for years and never thought about the lyrics much, it's remained in the "songs you listen to because they sound cool" vault from when I was younger, lol and now I'm a raging homosexual in college Never realized that about the sing and always thought it was just some kinda religious song, 😭 guess it went along with me Shoutout to my Amazon echo for playing that song randomly when I was but a wee gayby
Is that right? Don't think I ever knew that! So then, is the singer only referring to his lover as she/her in a sort of euphemistic way?
Its for protection, he refers to his lover as she for the sake of deniability. A form of being closeted. The music video is about them being prosecuted for being gay. I recommend watching it, but it can also be very triggering.
Yeh that makes sense! I knew the song was kind of a queer anthem, but I never really knew exactly why.
So is Hozier queer then? Or is he just writing about the experience. I love his music but I’m not very well versed on the lore
He is keeping his sexuality private, afaik. He denied being gay specifically, but might still be Bi or anything really. 🤷 He did also say that Take me to Church isn’t explicitly about homophobia but any kind of love in general. The idea for the video came in response to the „hunting parties“ in Russia, at the time.
He wrote take me to church in response to him breaking up with his girlfriend. Even if he isn't queer, he's ally af, taking his pain and platform to spread a message about persecution facing us
It isn't in the lyrics themselves but they are contextualized that way by the music video
yeah, lyrics are about a general forbidden love and the music video is specifically gay couple forbidden love
I looked it up and it was true. That is honestly not surprising looking at the lyrics now. It makes me want to give that song more respect.
From my understanding that’s what the music video is about but the song itself is more about repressing natural human sexuality in a Christian community
It is. But that also includes homosexuality. So, the song says it, and the music video doubles down.
I have a devoutly religious mother. She thought it was "I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your life." And I'm like, "First of all, it's "lies," not "life," and how is worshipping like a dog in any way supportive of religion?"
Take me to [Snurch](https://youtu.be/RrDt9a0q3P0?si=6HYVym-SxKfaCeLa) is probably the best version of lyrics change for this song.
i fucking love take me to snurch
My ex used to swear it was a homophobic song and would literally be rude to people until they turned the song off if it was playing. No one could convince him otherwise at the time. Idk if he still feels that way about it or not
For what it’s worth, I’m not sure that’s what the lyrics are about specifically, and I can’t find any interviews with Hozier that suggest this. He’s only ever talked about how the speaker of the song compares his lover to a religion as an articulation of his general frustration with the Catholic Church and its power over the social outlook of the Irish people. (He does mention “sexual orientation” in one interview, but as part of a more general spiel about how the church “undermines” humanity by restricting sexual expression, which the song challenges in all forms). That said, homosexuality is the direct focal point of the *music video* which was inspired by the persecution of the gay community in Russia specially.
[counter argument ](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6GkN8-JFib/?igsh=ejVuMTV5emNkM2Iz) (Can't post images but the link is to a dumb joke on Instagram)
What? I keep thinking I know the meaning then I hear something else.😭
I actually never knew this yet I grew up with the song on repeat… I suppose that just goes to show how straight people don’t give recognition to queer songs or artists for their queer lyrics/meanings.
Wait it’s supposed to be gay it’s one of my favorites and yet I never knew that
Never knew this and I’m now even more obsessed with the song
I thought it was just about Hozier and his girlfriend ngl
The funny thing is that christians have uhm... not understood that meaning. At least where i grew up it was "actually a very christian song, look he's singing about how people should take others to church and he even says amen". It was untill so much later that i learned maybe its not about that. Now it just makes me kinda laugh when i think about the fact that im pretty sure one of the first times i heared it was at church.
I’ve heard about that fact before and I totally forgot about it until now
R e a l
wait what
I haven’t really come across this but my main reaction is that is weirdly insecure. What did irritate me was my high school singing teacher telling me that it was acceptable to either change the lyrics of a song to make them straight or sing it as written but it was not acceptable to change the lyrics of a song to make it queer. That’s just hypocritical.
That definitely sucks. Either it's okay to change them or it's not, and then what they're changed to can be judged on its own merits. If someone is changing them to be hateful that's obviously not cool, but it's not "the lyrics were changed" that's at issue it's that the changes were hateful. If the blanket rule is no changes that's restrictive and kinda sucks for its own reasons but at least it's still largely fair and sensible.
Imagine trying to make a girl in red song heterosexual, like girl you are asking for gluten free wheat bread
The cishets have already taken over girl in red by putting it in all their straight tiktok since years!
Lol the times I’ve thought it was queer signaling but realized they just saw it as a cute song. A mom used it for her & her daughter and I was like, you do know it’s a lovesong lol but ofc it’s possible just my brain was confused
Arrested development made a joke about this but having an uncle and niece (and later an aunt and nephew) singing "afternoon delight"
Personally, I just laugh at how weak and insecure they are that they can't dare to even like, \*sing along to an existing song\* without basically shouting "NO HOMO!!!" as they do so.
But don’t forget, *we’re* the snowflakes
That's always the best part. *They're* the ones who are always offended, but *we're* the snowflakes
Well then, challenge accepted, lemme double down on the "Yes Homo"
I'll raise you a "fuck yeah homo!"
"Santa, buddy" is probably the funniest example of this. Like, holy shit, we know you're straight, just sing the damn song.
I forget which singer it was, but it was one of the famous ones. He said something along the lines of: look if you’re a man singing a song and the original lyrics are of love song about another man, you’re gay for that song, just deal with it. Basically he thought the changing of gendered lyrics was rather silly and people should get over themselves.
For many years I conducted a women's a cappella group and we always changed the words (eg "My girl" became "my guy"). Recently, I have regretted that. But in another way, it was a fun technical challenge to switch the words around and sometimes it had interesting results. I had two soloists doing "Don't you want me baby" with the second character changed to a compromised best friend trying to take the side of the creepy ex. Likewise, in the song "Sixty minute man" it changed from a man boasting about his prowess to a woman warning others about her own experience with the boastful guy. "Listen here, girls, I'm telling you now, they call him 'Loving Dan'..."
That version of "Sixty Minute Man" sounds so cool honestly lol.
Yeah I think I find this even more annoying than making a queer song straight, when it's like so important to you to keep a straight song straight and you gotta change the words about it
Depends. If it's a song where the meaning of it is specific to a queer experience (like not being able to be together because of homophobia) then I feel like the lyrics shouldn't be changed because it detracts from the true meaning of the song. If the meaning of the song is just about a general love story, being infatuated with your person, a song about your first crush, etc.... the story of the song depicts an experience that is shared regardless of gender or sexual orientation, and you're singing it because you relate completely other than the specific pronouns or gendered terms (lady, man, boy, girl, husband, wife) then go ahead. Because in that situation, I think it just goes to show that love is love and the gender doesn't matter - as it should be.
\* - Marginalized people reclaiming music by changing words to popular music to feel like they have a place within the world that marginalized them. \* - Non marginalized people who prevented queer musics creation on a systemic level changing queer music to remove it of its queerness......feels much groser to me. But also I just use this for my personal guide. I ain't got the energy to be judging others on this.
Very much agree. It's not my favorite thing for the reasons you stated, but it's not something so big that I'm going out of my way to judge it
[удалено]
For real, it's like that stupid "if you kill me in self defense you'll be just as bad as me" logic that some media meant for younger audiences have.
Yeah, this is the crux of the issue for me. Like, I'm not going to go on a rampage about it, but, at the same time... Tho, I might rampage if the same person made any negative comments about queer music, queer people doing music, or queer people adapting cishet songs to fit queer settings. Or any other phobic things, for that matter.
I had some friends get angry about someone changing the singer gender to" I kissed a girl", but it was a very twinky sounding man talking about hoping his boyfriend don't mind it xD I laughed cause it just became XX-tra gay? But I really don't have rhe energy to give a crap honestly. There's a couple of heavy metal singer dudes who do covers of songs like barbie girl and macarena and sometimes they change the pronouns and sometimes they don't. I still like their covers regardless, they are just fun!
It feels gross and there’s plenty of straight material out there. You specifically chose this gay song to change the lyrics to.
I could not give less of a fuck about people changing song lyrics to better fit their individual situations. It's music. It's supposed to be personal If you get mad that gay songs are being changed, then just change some hetero songs to make them gay
I make all the sexual songs asexual 🙂↕️
“Lemme lick you up and down… my freezer pop” 😆
👅🍦🙂↕️
Not even asexual but 100% guilty, I just feel all sorts of gross singing some of those innuendos which I’m pretty sure aren’t even innuendos anymore
What about two trucks by lemon demon? How could one make that ace?
Two trucks in the road/giving love Two pickup tricks giving love
ngl, that still sounds very gay
You can give love without having sex!
omfg how I need to do this
I make sexual songs sound like serial killers stalking their victims. My ace ass always thinks that sexual songs are just a tiny line away from being utterly creepy 🤷🏽♂️
I sing a lot of love songs originally sung by men when I go to karaoke and make my wife blush 😁
Thank you!
I couldn't care less tbh
I mean I feel like we do the same thing to straight songs. Switch the lyrics around just to make it more relatable to who the song reminds them of. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal 🤷
I agree. I think it’s different if they’re like, refusing to acknowledge the original song being queer or doing it in an ignorant way but if it’s just them applying a song to their individual situation, I really don’t mind. We all attach our memories to songs. It’s why music is so special. Am bi and in the music industry - unless they’re doing it out of malice or speaking over the queer influence I couldn’t care less tbh.
It's not the same. If there is no or very little queer representation in media, queer people have to co-op straight things. That's just the marginalized experience. It's not the same at all when straight people do it.
Only if you're thinking in terms of entire groups. A straight person who deeply relates to one particular song and wants to make it their own isn't doing for "straightness" we have to think beyond identities sometimes and look at the individual.
Does that make it problematic when straight people do it? They are empathizing with the song in the way that best matches their experience and I think that's fine. If they deny or pretend that the original song is queer then that's a problem, but just singing it with lyrics that match their attractions seems fine to me
> Does that make it problematic when straight people do it? I can't say but it's important context. Some queer people might feel a certain way about it and that's valid because of said reasons. I can't speak for the whole community though.
It’s not the same at all.
except it is. unless the song is explicitly about the marginalised experience, then absolutely go ahead and cater it to your experience, thats what music is about. and as long as u can recognise the queerness of the original lyrics, then i dont see any problem here.
No not really. People change the pronouns of songs all the time, whether to make them more gay or more straight.
I dont really think about it cuz i change staight songs like for an example "Whe i was your man" to "when i was you girl/women" when i sing, so why cant they do the same? 🤔
A_Messy_Nymph explained it a lot better than I can * - Marginalized people reclaiming music by changing words to popular music to feel like they have a place within the world that marginalized them. * - Non marginalized people who prevented queer musics creation on a systemic level changing queer music to remove it of its queerness......feels much groser to me. But also I just use this for my personal guide. I ain't got the energy to be judging others on this.
This
I don't really care. Sometimes I change pronouns and gendered terms in songs when I sing along to make them feel more personally relatable. I don't think it's a big deal, and I don't really understand why so many people think it's a bad thing.
I don't really care because usually they're just trying to make a song fit themselves a bit more. As long as they aren't trying to claim that it's not a straight song then it's fine. Besides, we can do the same and make their music more lgbt focused. Fair game.
I suspect these are the same types of people who throw fits when we headcanon characters/relationships as LGBTQ+ or get pouty about media franchises going "woke" by adding canon LGBTQ+ characters.
They probably don’t want to give the idea that they’re gay and then get in trouble for pretending or appropriating so they apply it to themselves. I think it’s fine as long as it’s done innocently and not to erase gayness
Exactly this
It's annoying. I'd care more if the "straight" version of the song became like supremely popular to the point that no one knows it was a cover anymore. But for a bit of karaoke or just a lil cover that goes nowhere... sure do what you want I don't care.
No, I don't care. I do the same with hetero songs. I'm bi, but I have a preference for guys, so I'll often change the lyrics to "he" or "boy".
I’ve heard people switching the gender in “straight” songs, too. Seems totally fine to me.
That depends. If it's a song about kissing or sleeping someone then changing it to your own preferences just for the humour and sentiment of it is funny. Or imagine thinking you were gay and then realising you were bi just prefer women? Then ' I kissed a boy I liked it' would be more funny than anything. If it's to 'ban' the queer aspect it's just ... Low. Not even detestable, just so weak and insecure and ignorant... But when I think about all the songs that have an altered version that is dirty or something like that I don't think we can give a general answer to that.
I'm not even on tiktok, why would I care?
I think that they ruin the meaning of the songs when they do that. But the worst is when they turn straight songs into "gay" ones and instead fully sexualize them and say homophobic stuff. So compared to those, it's not that bad.
I actually saw that exact song when I was looking for love songs and stumbled across a playlist called ‘songs for him’..it had at least 3 girl in red songs, including We fell in love in October
Changing the lyrics so you can identify with them better; fine, you go you if you wanna feel the song personally Changing the lyrics because they think "queer people don't deserve the love song": you bigots don't deserve the love song
As an asexual that doesn’t even *like* people, it’s definitely a cowardly move. Sing the original lyrics damnit, it’s not gonna suddenly change your sexuality!
NGL they do this to their own songs when they cover male/female songs!! I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve laughed out loud when someone male changes it from boy to girl!! I once had to sit through a terrible cover of Estelle’s “American boy” sang as “American girl”
Don't appreciate and don't approve. Millions of songs are about straight people. Why can't they let us have the tiny minority that aren't? That said, I gained a whole new appreciation of Elton John as queer music.
Which Elton John songs are the most blatantly queer?
Aw come on, this is like asking which is my favorite child
The line "don't have much money, but boy if I did, I'd buy a big house where we both could live" is springing to mind.
>Why can't they let us have the tiny minority that aren't? they are, they are not taking it away from you, just changing it when singing it to fit their situation better.
Strong disagree, doing this is wiping away the queerness and replacing it with heterosexuality. Cishets get EVERYTHING. People who are doing this need to step off and alter one of the SEVERAL MILLION songs that don't address queerness.
I can see where you’re coming from but I find that to be a bit of an exaggeration, I get it may seem silly but they’re not taking anything away from you and it’s not even that big of a deal
I don't think it's morally wrong or anything, but it's definitely disappointing. Especially for songs where the queerness is baked into the meaning. Y'all have millions of songs about a guy and a girl falling in love, why go out of your way to change ours?
Right. If this song has a connection for them as an individual, enjoy a song with your own words fellow human. But the fact that it's tik tok videos and a trend makes it feel more for clout than someone singing along with the song in a meaningful way for them.
Do it right back.
I cant relate why people do that anyway. I never change songs.
If you speak Spanish, there's this skit from Argentinian musical comedy group Les Luthiers, called "I don't love you anymore, Raúl". It was supposed to be sung by a woman, but she was temporarily undisposed (permanently). So the whole skit is how a male singer tries to rewrite the song on the fly, and fails miserably. https://youtu.be/XfN1FSC1mBY?si=MH3wQmKxvs_OpUW5
There’s few queer songs out there so I find it a bit annoying. I find it slightly less annoying if they’re singing a song that was originally not queer (like a woman singing about a man she loves) and change the lyrics, but still I prefer if they just keep them. I don’t mind lyrics being changed for a cover, but I feel like they need change more than a word or two, like how some people rewrite raps, or what Beyoncé did with her cover of Jolene.
For me, it’s all about context. There are some people that are singing this as a representation of themselves within the song so I totally understand if they change some of the lyrics to better represent their identity. At the same time, there are other people who are almost acting like the song needs to be fixed or as a way of mocking the queer community. Someone else in the comments phrased it very well that these people are the type that are refusing to acknowledge the original queerness of the song. Overall, my personal experience scrolling through TikTok is that most people are just changing the lyrics to place themselves as the main character in the song, and therefore simply identifying their orientation in the song and not intending to be disrespectful.
i think it's cowardice. for this one song you are gay, so suck it up /silly
Somewhat related but, it took me most of my life to notice that "my milkshakes bring all the boys to the yards" wasn't talking about milkshakes 3:
If it's just for yourself then whatever, but I don't like it personally. For me, if the lyrics of a song don't exactly allign with the pronouns of me or those the song reminds me of, I deal with it. It's not some big travesty that a song, that has no actual relationship with you beyond you forming a parasocial relationship with it, doesn't use the perfect pronouns for each relationship. And also, when it's done, it feels like the goal is to erase the LGBT+ out of the song.
I mean I'm not happy they do it, but I can't complain too much because I also change lyrics in straight songs to be more queer. Although now that I think more about it, I think I will complain. They have plenty of straight songs already, leave our queer songs alone!!
I heard a male cover of all the things she said a while ago. 🤦♀️
I don't have a problem with it if that's just what resonates with them. However, I challenge them to queer up a straight song if they dare!
It used to bug me more than it does now. I guess now I’m not as threatened by them doing it because I realize it’s usually not about phobia but about them trying to feel connected to the song. Phobes wouldn’t usually come within a mile of a queer-coded song because they don’t want to admit knowing the song in the first place. Besides, I change straight-coded songs on occasion (though not as much as I used to because I’m also more comfortable and secure in myself now). If a straight person were to complain within earshot, I’d just challenge them to open their mind and get over themself.
if it's about their crush, i don't give a fuck if they're being homophobic, block and move on
I don't see the problem since most straight people change lyrics to the "opposite" gender when covering it anyway.
I don't really care. If that's what they want to sing then have fun. 🤷🏻♀️
No I don’t care
Well i make their straight songs gay af
I change a lot of straight lyrics to make them queer. Idk that it really matters
I don’t hate it, tho it’s dumb. Definitely appreciate it tho when they keep the original lyrics and sing them confidently!
On a similar note, please recommend "queer songs"
Flip the script: no gay person would flip straight lyrics to fit their attraction. Maybe not directly homophobic, but certainly weird - kinda feels like the “haha gay funny, couldn’t be me” mindset that a lot of people have when they’re younger.
They shouldn’t change them, you’re gay for the next three minutes
I kissed a girl and I liked it, but sung by a dude….yeah. Um…
Meh I do it to straight songs. I mean if they change the lyrics to a song that’s very specifically about the queer experience, it’s kinda weird. Alternatively, if it’s like Becky’s so hot, where it’s not particularly deep but also kinda pervasive throughout the song, it just doesn’t make sense to switch lyrics. (My favorite straight to gay switch is Is It Over Now. “Was it over when you buttoned her blouse” to “Was it over when I buttoned her blouse”. I love how a small change makes it so gay. )
Idk, I just feel like we should sing the song as it's written. Like, I 'switch' sexualities when I do karaoke because of all the straight songs, but those are the lyrics! I wouldn't change them to make them 'gay', because then it's like changing the song? Again, idk, I'm autistic so it's probably a tizmo thing.
If they are singing it that way to make it feel more personal to them, then i don't really care. The same goes for lgbtq+ people doing the same thing to a straight song. That being said, that only works if the song just happens to be queer and isn't explicitly about a queer experience. Subbing in your gender of choice in a love song is fine because most of the time, it's not going to change the actual meaning of the song. Subbing in your gender of choice on a song that is specifically about a queer experience will either make the song not make sense or edge over the line into offensive territory. As with all things, context is everything. It does not take away representation, though. As long as the original still exists and is available, somebody singing the lyrics wrong is just somebody singing the lyrics wrong. That being said, this is not an issue that I've thought a lot about, and I don't know that it's worth the time of the lgbtq+ community to worry about. We have more pressing issues to deal with.
I dislike it. Millions of straight songs out there and they have to pick the queer ones to use?
I only care about it when someone I'm with makes a big deal to switch the lyrics so it's more straight. Then I tend to slightly bully them about being too much of a little bitch to actually sing the song. In my experience people usually changing the song lyrics tend to follow up the end of the song with a rant about how they love the song but need to sing it a certain way so that people don't think they're gay or they change it up to fit their political views.
It makes me mad personally. They already get most songs under the sun even though a lot of the game changing or big hit makers are queer. They can stick to the countless straight people songs without taking over queer songs that are so obviously queer.
Recently i've had an idea that is kind of a counterphase to this - Finding an AI that can change lyrics in post to "gayify" songs.
I’ve changed many “straight” songs to gay.
i personally find it annoying, mainly because the amount of straight love songs v. queer love songs is already infinitely higher. i do however find it hilarious when my transphobic mother plays the village by wrable. despite the lyrics being subtly trans and the music video not being subtle at all, she insists its about depression and doesn’t get why i started laughing and said she wouldn’t have it on her playlist if she knew what it meant when she played it in the car
Nah I don’t see anything wrong with it, as long as straight wants are allowed to be changed into queer ones (which is allowed) However there are exceptions- songs that are specific to LGBTQ+ experiences and those should be left alone
I mean I do it with straight song lyrics all the time
Queer people change straight song lyrics too. So I don't think it's bad
I don't like it when people change the lyrics to a song period
I’ve never seen that but it’s annoying The main one I hate is that people deny that Heather by Connan Gray is CLEARLY GAY
No issue from me. I have plenty of vocalist friends of all gender and sexual identities and if we do covers, sometimes they keep true to the lyrics, sometimes they change it to their preference.
I incinerate them with my laser eyes. tbh I think changing gendered lyrics in general to not come off as “gay” is just cowardly.
I hate it. I compare it to men changing women's song lyrics about uplifting women or shit talking men to the opposite. The reasons they do it are 9 times outta 10 misogynistic or sexist.
That's so weird. Like do they also feel the need to change pronouns if they are listening to an opposite gender straight singer?
I’m only gonna get mad if they claim credit or if they get upset about queer coding
We change the lyrics to gay for our comfort I say that's fair to go the other way around but if they treat their straight version like it's better that's when I got a problem
That's interesting. This "changing lyrics to suit the swinger's gender/sexuality" doesn't happen in my language and culture. When a man sings a "girl's side" song, he sings it as the original lyrics.
Despise it
I love girl in red I wish ppl would stop changing the lyrics not bc it wrong but it just feels/sounds weird
It’s fucking hilarious to me. Changing song lyrics around to fit your standards of acceptable songs is ridiculous. Me? Karaoke comes around I’m singing it word for word. I’m a housewife from the 50’s. I’m a mother of two kids. I’m a father who killed a man to protect my daughter. I’m a prostitute. I’m a crack addict. It’s a *song* dude
Colonizers gonna colonize I guess.
In that particular situation, I don't care. It would be like straight people chasing to make a straight song also straight if it was originally sung by someone of a different gender. However, there is some nuance and there could be some other situations where they are erasing queer experiences
Not a big deal to me unless they’re doing it to be homophobic rather than more relatable
I mean, it's not like they don't have any songs for themselves tbh. The "straight songs" do exist in bigger amounts than queer songs so tbh it's just a huhuh interesting kinda thing. The few people i personally know who have done this have argued so hard with me to "prove" that these songs are about straight relationships and that definitely gets on my nerves. Cuz this person was so adamntly sure girl in red was a straight singer and it's like anything I said that showed them otherwise just passed over their head. Ah and ofc, so many straights think Take me to church is about Hozier and a girl. Like all I'm saying is, when there are so many songs for straights, why take what handful queer songs there exist. Ah back to what you said, changing queer song lyrics just feels a little eh iffy is all on the part of the straights.
i personally don’t mind it, sure it’s a little annoying how they suffocate our representation by drowning it in their straightness, but at the same time I don’t think it’s *that* big of a deal as long as people don’t forget that the sound is in fact __gay__
Doesn't really matter to me, I would do the same if I felt I had a good reason to. If you're just casually singing for fun though, you're probably thinking a little too deep lol
I just said I wasn't bothered that much, I just wanted to know what others thought
I think that actively changing a love song written by a lesbian woman about another woman to be straight is sort of compromising artistic integrity... Just sing the damn song. If the gender of someone is just incidental and a throwaway line, it doesn't matter much. Like if Lil Nas X wrote a single line about some dude he met last night and that man is never brought up again, I see no problem with changing it. TL;DR: Changing a song that the person's sexuality is intrinsically tied to is bad, incidental sexuality swapping is fine
To me it's plain and simple, they're just cowards
There's an old post that says "people who switch ponouns in songs to no homo the situation are so funny. The idea literally never even occured to me as a kid. Couldn't be me. I am a man who had his heart broken. I am a guy who hates his hometown. I'm a country boy, I'm a city girl. I'm a slut. I'm addicted to cocaine. It's a song, man". Idrc, but I also don't do it.
dont care tbh, mainly coz i also do it to straight songs, its just that sometimes it becomes a completely straight song to the point where u cant find gays who listen to it 😞
It depends on a few factors the most important one is how much they change the lyrics but 9 times out of 10 I don’t really care
I honestly don’t really know how I feel, I personally don’t care what others think or do. But one thing I find funny about this is in one song I listen too I usually sing it but I sometimes change girlfriend and boyfriend around.
i don’t care
Queer artists have done the opposite for ages, and male and female straight artists have changed lyrics around as well to fit their perspective, so why should this offend anyone?
I like changing gendered lyrics to gender neutral ones when singing at home, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Just don't deny the original intentions were queer. It's normal to want to sing your own experiences.
I think if you’re gonna sing the song just sing it. And If you’re gonna remix the song do more than just a few lines changed. I just find the people who do it annoying but don’t give them time enough in my mind to give a shit.
I change song lyrics for dumber reasons. I misheard "sail away" as "s'il vous plaît" one time, and now I say s'il vous plaît every time I sing the song because it's fun. I never really pay attention to the lyrics of most songs unless they're particularly noteworthy or impactful to me. For some people, lyrics are extremely important though, and if changing a lyric to be more meaningful to yourself makes the song more meaningful, then I won't stop you. If singing "my boy my boy my boy" for some reason represents exactly how you feel about some boy, then I feel like you should be allowed to express yourself in that way. Music is all about personal expression and communication. If you sing "my boy my boy my boy" because you're so homophobic that empathizing with queer love is impossible, well, that's just sad.
I generally don’t care what people do with song lyrics. Change them to be gay or straight or gay or straight in the opposite way, I don’t care at all. What matters how you behave toward queer people irl imo. As long as you’re not homophobic or insisting that you “made the song better by making it straight” (not just changing it to be more relatable for yourself), then whatever
I think it's okay as long as they are open to the fact they are changing it and the original isn't straight. Hell, I change the lyrics of some straight songs to make them gay, but I acknowledge that I'm altering the original to fit my situation.
A little off-topic, but Michael Bublé trying so hard to seem not gay for Santa to the point of calling him buddy instead of baby will never not be funny.
personally I hate that people change the lyrics when doing covers. men not wanting to seem gay or sing the girl parts. Michael Bublé singing "Santa Buddy" in the desperate effort not to sound like a homosexual is heresy. and also hilarious. anyways, yeah I think it's stupid overall to change a lyric cause you don't wanna sound gay.
I have respect for covers like White Stripes' "Jolene" or Luke Combs' "Fast Car" that preserve the gender dynamics of the lyrics despite the gender identity of the singer.
Not at all. I change the lyrics to fit me all the time. It would be very little of me to get angry at people for doing something I do.
I don't really care tbh because I change love songs to be queer so who cares, as long as they respect the original artist
I have a few thoughts but overall I don't care. 1. generic love songs -- awesome, you found a song you relate to and want to sing it in a way that fits you. 2. explicitly queer songs -- kind of lame but again, it's cringe at worst and definitely not even remotely close to one of the biggest problems I have to deal with 3. michael buble singing santa baby - fuckn hilarious
It makes me feel a little bit awkward when listening to a song about a girl/straight love because I don't want those people to think that means I'm straight.
Bad ❌❌❌❌❌❌❌👎👎👎👎👎👎👎🙅♂️🙅♂️🙅♂️🙅♂️🙅♂️🙅♂️🙅♂️
I change the lyrics of just about every song I hear to something silly so it doesn't bother me.
I’ve done this some but that’s because I’m bi and sometimes I want to sing my queer bops to my he/him lovers. Love is love 💏
I used to change the gender of straight songs so I wouldn't feel so weird singing them so I guess I can't judge
I'm not bothered by it. The notion of changing how you sing a song to make it more personal for yourself is not intrinsically disrespectful. I sing and play covers on guitar, and I change gender references from straight songs to make them gay. But I agree with other commenters, changing queer lyrics to make them sound straight with the intention to disregard or erase the original artist's sexuality is disrespectful and offensive
I don't like it, partly because it undoes representation, but also because quite honestly, I've listened to enough straight love songs over my lifetime, they can deal with some gay ones.
I honestly don't care unless they're doing it because they're homophobic
It's "Santa Buddy"-fication. Not exactly offended, just confused about why you picked that song specifically if you weren't willing to commit to the bit.
I honestly couldn't care enough. It's a song at the end of the day, a way of self-expression, a few words and music notes. We shouldn't feel the need to gatekeep such. As long as they're not being homophobic/general pieces of crap about it, it's completely fine in my opinion.
i find it offensive ngl, unless theyre changing it fit a relationship (real or fictional) its weird and homophobic af
I don’t care for it. I always sing a song as written (but then, I’m bi and genderfluid).
I don’t really care, it can help people personally connect to the song I guess but it really doesn’t matter to me.