Love is Love And Here Are 5 Songs To Prove It.

June is a beautiful month.  Wanna know why? Because all of June we get celebrate love.  Love of all kinds. As once said by Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, “And love is love is love is love is love…”  and what better month to celebrate, than Pride Month itself?

As I continue to grow older, LOVE has taken on more and more meanings.  If I have learned anything in my twenty-one years of life so far, it’s that love has no boundaries.  It is something that cannot be forced. It is something that just kind of happens and is uncontrollable when it does.  Love is every emotion. It can heal our hearts, just as much as it can break our hearts. It is unconditional. But, I think the most important thing I have learned about love is that you’re allowed to love whoever you want to love in this world and NO ONE can tell you who and who not to love.  You love who you love and that is it. This is why Pride Month is so important because it reminds us that love is love and we should be proud to love whoever wins our hearts over at the end of each day. Maybe every love story is different, but we all love the same.

As the Gay Pride movement continues and grows throughout the United States, I think there is something to be said about how music has given us the bravery and courage to love who we love.  It has allowed for people to not feel alone with their feelings and has given them a safe place to go whenever the world thinks the way they love is different, than the way everybody else loves.  Music celebrates the freedom we have as humans to love whoever we want to damn love. It serves as a reminder that love is not a choice.

In celebration of Pride Month, here are five of my favorite powerful songs that celebrate our freedom to love whoever we want to love:

1.) “Girls/Girls/Boys” by Panic! At The Disco

 

“Girls love girls and boys

And love is not a choice”

Anyone who is a big fan of Panic! At the Disco, knows how supportive and passionate Panic! At the Disco’s Brendan Urie is about Pride.  Hence the song, “Girls/Girls/Boys.” In this song, Urie talks about how important it is to be truthful about your sexual identity. You can’t control who you are and “love is not a choice.”  “Girls/Girls/Boys” celebrates those things and was meant to encourage people to be proud of who they are.

 

2.) “Different Colors” by Walk the Moon

 

“Different colors

   We carry each other”

Walk the Moon is another band who largely supports Pride.  The last time I saw them live, as they played, “Different Colors,” their whole backdrop turned into a rainbow flag in support of the LGBTQ+ movement.  Personally, I think this is one of the most powerful songs I have ever heard. For one, it talks about all of the different kinds of people in the world, aka, “different colors.”  The song is meant to bring unity to music listeners everywhere. It was written in support of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the fight for gender equality. “Different Colors” is a call to action for all music lovers to recognize the one commonality we have together as people, which is the love we all share for music.

 

3.) “Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves

 

“Kiss lots of boys

Or kiss lots of girls if that’s somethin’ you’re into”

“Follow Your Arrow” was Kacey Musgraves’ third single off of her debut album, Same Trailer Different Park.  The best thing about this song is that Kacey Musgraves doing what you want and being who you want to be, despite what others might think of you.  Musgraves once commented on the song that it does not really matter what sexuality you are and no matter what, society will always find a way to be unhappy with you.  Therefore, this song talks about the importance of taking advantage of the life you were given to do what you want and be who you want. It is about what makes YOU happy and not just doing whatever makes others happy.

 

4.) “Loving Someone” by The 1975

 

“You should be loving someone”

Back when the Orlando, Florida shooting took place two years ago, The 1975 decided to make a stand and show their support for the LGBTQ+ community by dedicating, “Loving Someone,” during their concert in Charlottesville, VA on June 12, 2016.  They set a rainbow backdrop that night during the song to make their statement.  In, “Loving Someone,” the song talks about needing love and giving love. During the first verse, leader singer, Matty Healy, sings about how the media, “holding up the status quo,” and is teaching people that they should only want the opposite sex, instead of teaching people that it is okay to just love someone, anyone for that matter.  

5.) “Hold Each Other” by A Great Big World featuring Futuristic

“We hold each other”

In an interview with Billboard, A Great Big World discussed how, “Hold Each Other,” started out as a standard love song between a man and a woman, but it wound up becoming Chad King’s (of the duo’s) “coming out” song.  The writing changed when King was asked if he could sing this song honestly during, “Something happens when I hold her…” and he talked about how he habitually sang about girls all of his life as a singer.  He discussed how natural that was in the pop field, but it was never necessarily honest for him. “Hold Each Other” was written with the intent to inspire others to sing about their own truths, or speak about them.  

With all of that being said, Happy Pride Month to all and for MORE Pride encouraging music, please listen to the Spotify playlist below titled, “Show Your Pride!”

Thank you for reading and it feels good to be back.  

Life starts with music and stands up for love.

-Kelli ♫