Pride-Appropriate Music

When it comes to celebrating the LGBT+ community (and especially on Pride Month specifically), what type of music comes to mind? Some might generically suggest Disney, Lady Gaga, Broadway, etc. while others might take a more specific route, and go for actual advocates of the community such as Brendon Urie, Sam Smith, heck even a portion, if not all of the "Ultimate Storytime" soundtrack could qualify for more than one category. However, it might be a good idea to take into consideration the songs that, though they aren't specifically targeting the LGBT+ community, are generic enough, and inspirational enough to give love to more than one community that absolutely needs it. What do I mean by that? Well, to put it into perspective, I, myself, am on the autism spectrum, and I put together a playlist a few years ago of songs that seem to really speak to the community that I am a part of, even though said community wasn't a specific target audience. Generic, but inspirational all the same, pretty much like a single puzzle piece that can fit into any puzzle you place it in. Here are some examples that either come to mind, or come from the playlist that could be beneficial for the LGBT+ community, and some of the reasons why I feel that they are appropriate songs.

The first song I would like to discuss is "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" by Josh Groban. What is one of the big messages that everyone who is not a bigot wants to spread to the LGBT+ community, especially to parts of the community that feel doubts about the validity of their identities? "You are valid"/"You are loved." Also, if you really think about it, some of the lyrics tend to fit with the struggles that the LGBT+ community has to go through past and present: "Don't give up, it's just the weight of the world," "If silence keeps you, I will break it for you."

Another song I would like to bring up is "Torches" by Daughtry. Anyone on here who might know me on or offline might consider me biased, but there is no denying that "Torches" has a lot of powerful messages about spreading the love, and letting it burn bright with the intention of keeping negativity and bigotry in the dark, no matter what community you consider yourself a part of. Not only that, it has a part that basically says "Have you seen the progress that has been made so far? Let's keep going" which can apply to the LGBT+ community's history that includes fighting for their rights to pretty much exist, and the fact that there should be no stopping any time soon, since there's still a long way to go for the world.

After scrolling through the playlist again to see what other songs would be fitting, I came across one that I haven't heard in a long time, but remembered that it was powerful when it comes to fighting back, especially against some of the bigots that stem from older generations that aren't exactly ready for change: "Generation" by Simple Plan. Let's be real here: how many times has an older person said to a younger person who most definitely isn't straight "oh, you're just confused," "oh, it's just a phase, you'll get over it," "you'll like boys/girls someday"? The lyrics can speak out to someone who wants to stop waiting for straightness that never comes, or for things to change, and gets so impatient that they will be willing to take matters into their own hands. As for the, "It's not so complicated, cause I know you want the same thing too" part, well, after some thinking, to fit with the route I'm going down for the sake of this piece, it might be a good idea to think of it as an older person wanting this younger person to want to start a loving family, and a younger person wanting that, too, just not the same type as the older person envisioned.

If I were to continue on with the suggestions and reasonings behind them, this would be an extremely long article that would take until the end of Pride Month for me to finish. In all seriousness, though, the great thing about music is that it can be interpreted however you want it to be, since music is in the ear of the beholder. Maybe if you don't exactly hear these songs the same way I do, it could at least spark a discussion between friends, whether you're an advocate or an ally. Feel free to find more music that you think might be fitting for the messages that Pride Month wishes to share, and bring up the music that you already know of for the sake of feedback.

Feel free to look into more of my articles and maybe leave a tip if you wish to do so. until then, here's a Todrick Hall video to close this article out.