So here I am again with another song. Although this one is a little bit tricky to write about because there’s not much to say. This week’s song, “Put This On Your iPod”, is one that I wrote very casually. It’s a personal song that I didn’t really put any message behind it, aside from it being a typical song that you write for your crush. I didn’t exactly try to connect it to some grand LGBTQ+ issue. But the more I sit here and think about it, the more I start to realize that the casualness and non-political stance of the song might have more to say than I thought.

I’ve spent so much of my life having to explain to people why I like women, that it’s ridiculous. One would think that being called a “lesbian” would be enough. But it still remains that people want to know why I’m a lesbian. And for those of you who are still wondering why, the official answer is: “heck if I know.”

Alternatives to that answer could be “I don’t know, why are you straight,” “If only I knew,” and the classic “Why not.”

And that’s the end of the article! Thanks for reading! Bye!

Just kidding. I’m still going to explain the song somehow. But let’s be honest for a second (ha!), why is it that cisgendered heterosexual people never have to explain why they’re cisgendered or heterosexual? I’ve always been envious of that. What irks me the most is when people ask me why I’ve “chosen such a hard life for myself.” First of all, it is as impossible to choose to be LGBTQ+ as it is to choose to be straight. And also, I really haven’t. It’s the rest of homophobic society that makes it hard to begin with. If I’ve chosen anything at all, it’s to be completely and irrevocably myself.

But that choice wasn’t made in a day. I’ve written before about how I had to change the pronouns in my songs from “her” to “him” while I was still in the closet out of fear.

Sometimes, I wouldn’t even add any pronouns because I knew that as long as I, a girl, were writing the song, the default would always be male. I was safe as long as my secret was protected by heteronormativity. Come to think of it, “Put This On Your iPod”, is the first song I’ve ever written where I let myself use female pronouns explicitly.

The song itself is one of those typical songs you write for a crush but its also the first song where I saw myself first as a musician and then as a lesbian. Meaning, I just let myself write.

I thought of the girl. Nothing could stop me from thinking about the girl. And I just wrote.

Which brings me to, I guess, the point of the song. Truth and love. If you’ve ever felt love down to the bone then you know how unstoppable its force can be. That is the thing that we march in the streets for. Truth and love. Is there anything more worth fighting for?