Billie Eilish

The meaning behind Billie Eilish’s new track ‘wish you were gay’

Billie Eilish is back again with her brand new single ‘wish you were gay’. However, it is not at all what it appears to be.

As soon as I had heard the name of the single I thought Billie Eilish was about to come out, just like what the rest of her LGBT fans thought. I am afraid this is not the case. The 17-year-old is simply writing about a guy she likes, wishing he was gay to justify to herself the reason he does not like her.

She sings “I’m not your type / Maybe I’m not your preferred gender orientation.” During a live stream she revealed that the guy did indeed come out to her, the song was written at the mere age of 14 and tells how the song is “not meant to be offensive in any way.”

This is a follow up from the single ‘bury a friend,’ both of which are to be released with her debut album ‘When we all fall asleep, where do we go’. The much anticipated album is due for release on March 29.

Eilish is currently on the road for her sold-out tour in Europe, having recently played in the UK. She will be returning to California to perform at Coachella in April which will no doubt be a spectacle, before heading out on another sold-out North American tour in May.

The lyrics capture the unrequited love that she feels throughout the song. “I can’t tell you how much I wish I didn’t wanna stay; I just kinda wish you were gay”, perfectly re-telling a situation that most people have been in at some point in their life. Hopefully the 17-year-old is not still dwelling on the situation, but let’s face it that feeling sucks. The rhyme makes for a catchy song, stripped back with a guitar at the beginning.

Performing at Radio 1 she sung a live lounge cover of Phantograms ‘You Don’t Get Me High Anymore’ along with her own singles ‘ocean eyes’, ‘bury a friend’ and ‘I don’t wanna be you anymore’. The single has already amassed over 7.6 million views on YouTube alone and will continue to rise steadily.

It has also been reported that she was donating a portion of proceeds from her clothing range to the Trevor Project for the 48 hours after the initial single release. The Trevor Project is an American organization aimed at preventing suicides among LGBTI youth.

‘wish you were gay’ is available now for streaming on Spotify

By Abi Trünk

Single review and album preview: Billie Eilish buries a friend and falls asleep

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