12 queer coded songs that celebrate Pride beyond June
There are a lot of great songs that were written to provide LGBTQ+ representation, and there are a lot more that didn’t exactly hold that intention, but that people have adopted as queer anthems regardless. One famous example of this is Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” which could be interpreted as a lesbian or bisexual person in denial with the provocative description of the girl trying to take her man.
June is indeed Pride month, but queer people exist outside of these 30 days, too. Due to a lack of representation in the media, individuals of the queer community tend to project their identities onto characters of books, anime, and movies, as well as songs from non-LGBT artists. So I have included a list of songs that I have projected onto despite them not actually being about the queer experience.
“It’s OK” (Imagine Dragons)
I don’t want this body, I don’t want this voice
I don’t wanna be here but I guess I have no choice
Just let me live my truth, that’s all I wanna do
“It’s OK” is the only song on this list that was actually written with the queer experience in mind; I just had to include it on this list. Albeit, while the song has a wider picture covering multiple different perspectives, the entire song can be viewed from the specific lens of a trans woman. The lyrics mostly speak from the third-person perspective of a girl. In the first verse, she is hearing every word that people are saying around her about queer people. It hurts her a lot, but she doesn’t speak up because she knows that any words she says will fall on deaf ears. The second verse refers to “the news and political discourse” over trans people and the dangers they pose to society, and then the trans woman reflects on her own past before realizing she was trans. When she thought she was a he, “he” was afraid of being feminine because the bullies would call her “weak [and] emasculated.” With the strict gender roles in society, it is easy for a trans kid to feel broken, as the bridge says. But trans people are not broken — breaking down those stereotypes we have been taught our entire lives can be confusing at first, but our gender identity really is the truth.
“Flowers” (Miley Cyrus)
I can take myself dancing
And I can hold my own hand
Yeah, I can love me better than you can
Of course “Flowers” is another break-up song, but I and other aromantic people also embrace this song as exemplifying the experience of not needing somebody else to love them. Aromanticism is a spectrum, and one microlabel that “Flowers” perfectly depicts is the autoromantic label, meaning a person who is romantically attracted to themself. The verses on the surface do contradict this, but since the person so quickly cheered up after starting to cry and holds “no remorse [and] no regret,” the possibility clicks that this is someone who was in a relationship but realized they were happier being single and taking themself out on dates.
“Hey Dude” (Kula Shaker)
But you treat me like a woman
When I feel like a man
These lyrics pretty much hit the nail on the head where I’m going with this: this song could be about a trans man. Seeing how the song is about discovering one’s self-identity and the person is “losing [their] direction” and they “can’t understand,” it could also be interpreted through the lens a GNC man or drag queen. The first verse could either be them learning about another trans man, a non-binary person, a drag queen, or simply a man that likes wearing dresses and about how happy he is and the joy it gives him. When people come out as queer, it lets other people know that it’s ok to be LGBTQ+ and you don’t have to fit into a heteronormative or binary-gendered box.
“I’m a Believer” (The Monkees)
And then I saw her face
Now I’m a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind
I’m in love
100% this song is about a guy who has bad luck with relationships. But if you look at it from a woman’s perspective, the verses instead come across as someone who was dating men because it was the default sexuality, but then when they fell in love with a girl, they finally understood what love was. The funny part is thinking about Smash Mouth at the end of Shrek singing about being a lesbian.
“Andy, You’re a Star” (The Killers)
On the streets, such a sweet face jumped in town
In the staffroom, the verdict is in
In a car with a girl, promise me she’s not your world
’Cause Andy, you’re a star
This song could translate two different ways: either as a trans man, a gay crush, or both. As a gay crush, the interpretation should be obvious, but so many more lyrics fit with the lens of a trans person being the subject. At the beginning of the song, it’s clear that Andy plays sports. “On the mats with the boys, you think you’re alone” — it could be taken as a girl who is the only female on an all boys’ sports team. In the quoted lyric above, one could see this as a trans person who is in danger — either physical danger or of the politics preventing trans kids from being themselves in school. The single lyric that contradicts this could be “In a car with a girl, promise me she’s not your world,” but it could instead be reflecting on Andy repressing their trans identity because of societal backlash and begging Andy to be his true self.
“Telescope” (Cage the Elephant)
Afraid of what the truth might bring
He locks his doors and never leaves
Desperately searching for signs
To terrified to find a thing
So many Cage the Elephant could be seen as queer, and I was debating whether to include “Telescope” or “Shake Me Down” here. I want to start with saying that I am 99% certain that Matt Schultz is not a trans woman, so this is not a conspiracy that he is secretly trans; I am fairly certain that “Telescope” is really about his struggle with addiction. But if he were a trans woman, this could have been “her” reflecting on “him” — her past self before coming out as trans. People don’t suddenly change their mannerisms when they come out as trans despite popular belief. People may mask their true nature in public because they’re scared of judgement, but in their own homes (where the subject in question is, currently), they act just the same as they did before coming out. This song could be interpreted as a trans woman reflecting on her past self and how much time was wasted hiding her identity, or on the flipside, it could be interpreted as a trans man who is scared to come out but is finding it even more difficult to hide his identity. “Desperately looking for signs” to not be trans, but they’re “too terrified to find a thing” that proves that they are. The bridge is both screaming out to society that is forcing people to stay in the closet, as well as the mental anguish and depression that trans people feel that often turns them to dark thoughts.
“Call the Doctor” (Sleater-Kinney)
Your life is good for one thing
You’re messing with what’s sacred
They want to simplify your needs and likes to sterilize you
This is love and you can’t make it
This song could be interpreted so many different ways; we can see this as being about a trans person, about a lesbian, or even about an asexual person. The quoted lyric is specifically referring to the conservative rhetoric that Republicans are trying to hide — they believe that the only real purpose that these men think women have is to be baby-making machines. Different lyrics switch between quoting the beliefs/arguments of conservatives to being what the queer person in question actually feels. They believe trans people are “sterilizing” themselves by undergoing trans medical care. They think trans people are the devil because they are contrary to what they believe — “I’m your monster, I’m not like you!” They think being a lesbian is “stealing a perfectly healthy woman” from a good man, or denying children from coming into the world — she’s ignoring her “calling” to be a mother. People also see asexual people as having a medical problem that needs to be addressed by a doctor, but asexual people (and aromantic people) can still be in relationships and experience love. And all of this fits within the actual song’s meaning — that men think they have the right to control and mold women into what they want them to be.
“Love Interruption” (Jack White)
I want love to change my friends to enemies
Change my friends to enemies and show me how it’s all my fault
I won’t let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me
Continuing down the path of what conservatives are doing to queer people, “Love Interruption” is on this list because it could be twisted to refer to the cruel acts that people have done to those who identify as queer. The song already has conflicting interpretations as to the true meaning; some say that it’s about someone who used to be in an abusive relationship, and some say that it’s about the polarizing feelings that love can give you. But through a queer lens, it refers to the assaults, the murders, and the verbal abuse that is committed against queer people because of their identities. Coming out as gay may very well “change my friends to enemies” — even my own mother —and they will say it’s my fault because “being gay is a choice.” So while the verses are all sarcastic, the chorus screams “I won’t let the fear of judgement prevent me from being able to love,” or “I won’t let the people of my community face this violence any longer.”
“Some Postman” (The Presidents of the United States of America)
Some postman is grooving
To all our love letters
This song was just a funny one to include. Why is the postman stealing your love letters? It is assumed that none of the letters have been received from either end. It’s humourous to think about some postman that is so lonely that he wants a love letter to feel happy about — either from a girl or from a boy. We could think about this bisexual postman in another way, but we’re going to keep this PG.
“LEMONS” (Byre)
You’re a sour little boy
With a fragile masculinity
You saw me as your toy
Now that I’m not, you … throw a tantrum
The song is originally about a woman’s experience with bullying, and that translates exactly to the interpretation of a trans woman being bullied both before and after coming out. Men see other men being feminine as being an insult to masculinity. Trans women were often bullied as kids for being too feminine. Now that this trans woman has come out as a woman, she is both abused by the law and media with anti-trans rhetoric and bills, and conservative men throw a tantrum whenever those bills are not passed or if they unintentionally think that a trans woman is actually a cis woman because “there’s no possible way that a man can look like a woman.”
“Remember You’re a Girl” (Kaiser Chiefs)
Pick the one you like
Love the one you’re with
You’re going down the wrong road
… Forget that you’re a boy, forget that you’re a girl
This one should be fairly obvious, but it’s about being non-binary, GNC, and/or bi or pan. The first verse points to the cry for polysexual people to “pick a side” — be either gay or straight. Religious people in particular will tell us that we are “going down the wrong road,” but “forget that you’re a boy, forget that you’re a girl,” because gender is not binary, it’s a social construct. Just be who you are, and you will be the ruler of your world — your life.
“We Are Still Here!” (Bukahara)
We will be strong, will be proud and fighting when it happens
Our dreams are the armour, and the words are the weapon
We will not be afraid, conquer our fear
Raise our hands in the air, screaming, “We are still here!”
This song doesn’t really have a hidden meaning. It’s simply about Pride month and what Pride parades and festivals are really about. We go down to town square, sing songs, and we celebrate that we are here, and we are queer. It’s about love, it’s about unity, it’s about the ongoing battle for representation and tolerance.
