No Matter What
Songwriters: Tobias Martin Gad / Calum Scott

When I was a young boy I was scared of growing up
I didn’t understand it but I was terrified of love
Felt like I had to choose but it was outta my control
I needed to be saved, I was going crazy on my own

It took me years to tell my mother, I expected the worst
I gathered all the courage in the world

She said, “I love you no matter what
I just want you to be happy and always be who you are”
She wrapped her arms around me
Said, “Don’t try to be what you’re not
‘Cause I love you no matter what”
She loves me no matter what

I got a little older wishing all my time away
Riding on the pavement, every sunny day was grey
I trusted in my friends then all my world came crashing down
I wish I never said a thing, ’cause to them I’m a stranger now

When I ran home I saw my mother, it was written on my face
Felt like I had a heart of glass about to break

She said, “I love you no matter what
I just want you to be happy and always be who you are”
She wrapped her arms around me
Said, “Don’t try to be what you’re not
‘Cause I love you no matter what”
Yeah

Now I’m a man and I’m so much wiser
I walk the earth with my head held higher
I got the love that I need
But I was still missing one special piece
My father looked at me

He said, “I love you no matter what
I just want you to be happy and always be who you are”
He wrapped his arms around me
Said, “Don’t try to be what you’re not
‘Cause I love you no matter what”
He loves me no matter what
And they love me no matter what

I mentioned to my friend Dylan that I was trying to figure out a song to finish up my “Musical March” posts. Songs, or at least the good one, always make great poetry. Dylan suggested this one. He also suggested “Come to My Window” by Melissa Etheridge or “Montero” by Little Nas X, which are both songs I like, but when I listened to Calum Scott’s “No Matter What,” I had tears in my eyes. The song was very emotional for me. When I came out to my mother, I found out that her love was conditional. She would not love me “no matter what.” My father on the other hand told her that, I was their son, and they’d love me no matter what. While my mother always does what my father says (sometimes much to my dismay), I’m glad she listened this time. Yet, I’ll always know, and she often reminds me, that if it was up to her, she’d have disowned me.

Calum Scott describes “No Matter What” as his “most personal song” and the song he is “most proud of.” The song tells the story of Scott telling his parents he was gay and their reactions of loving him “no matter what.” Scott said “It was a song that I always had to write, and a song I never thought I’d be able to share. This song has so much bones behind it and has such a wider discussion, not only about sexuality but about acceptance.” Adding “This hopefully will be a movement. I want to help people, I want to inspire people, I want to make people more compassionate.”

I wish all parents loved their children “no matter what” especially when they come out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer, etc. I’ve known too many parents who put conditions on their love for their children. I don’t want children. At one time, I thought I did because that’s what was expected of me, but I knew I’d never make a good father, not because I wouldn’t love my child unconditionally, but I know I have a temper like my father, and I’d never put a child through that. However, if I did have a child, I would have loved them no matter what. I would be accepting and loving. I don’t understand how anyone can put conditions on the love they give their children.

I wish all parents would be loving and accepting, and I said as much to Dylan who told me, “We have a Heavenly Father who does. Those are His feelings toward us. And you have friends who love you very much too.” I agree with him and said, “I just need to be reminded of that sometimes.” He wisely replied, “Yes, we all do!” We are all part of God’s family, and many in the LGBTQ+ community make our own families. I know I have people that I love and cherish, as much, and sometimes more so, than my own biological family (I’m referring to you here, Susan). Cherish the people in your life who love you “no matter what.”

I Like Boys
Song by Todrick Hall
Songwriters: Carl Seante Mcgrier / Jean-Yves G. Ducornet / Kofi Owusu / Todrick Dramaul Hall

Mama come, come doll, take a seat
There’s someone you know that you’ve got to meet
So brace yourself for the big reveal
He’s about my height when he’s not in heels
Some boys play basketball
He played house with ratchet dolls
It’s not Santa Claus, it’s time for applause
It’s comin’ out the closet

Mama, I like boys, I like pecs
Like them arms when they flex
Like that print in them sweats
Tell them girls, “Thank you, next”
I like when they text me sexy pics of ’em
Like them abs when there’s six of ’em
Tell them girls I’m sorry
I like boys

Mama, boys like me (I like boys who like boys)
Mama (I like boys who like boys)
Work (I like boys who like boys)
Mama (I like boys who like)
Boys like me, yeah (boys like me)
Yeah, they do (boys like me)
Ooh (boys like me)
Motherfuckin’ boys like me (bitch)

I like when they shake it, shake it
I like when they grind real slow (real slow)
I like when they almost naked (damn)
Tell dad I’m so homo
Lights off, doors shut
Tall, dark, clean-cut
Thick with a bubble butt, yup

Mama, I like boys, I like pecs
Like them arms when they flex
Like that print in them sweats
Tell them girls, “Thank you, next”
I like when they text me sexy pics of ’em
Like them abs when there’s six of ’em
Tell them girls I’m sorry
I like boys

Mama, boys like me (I like boys who like boys)
Mama (I like boys who like boys)
Work (I like boys who like boys)
Mama (I like boys who like)
Boys like me, yeah (boys like me)
They do (boys like me)
Haha (boys like me)
Motherfuckin’ boys like me (bitch)

Style like they name Harry
Chocolate like Tyrese
I pick him up at Barry’s
Crunch, Planet Fitness
Shirt off in the lawn
Sizzlin’ like grease
By day his name Gaston
By night I call him Beast

Bitch, B to the O to the Y to the S
Boys will be boys and with boys I’m obsessed
Boys in their gym clothes, boys in a dress
And if boys are a crime then I’m under arrest
‘Cause I’ve been boy crazy since the boy scouts
Fuck the closets, let the boys out
Don’t be a camel when you are a llama, period
No comma, bring on all the drama

Mama, I like boys, I like pecs
Like them arms when they flex
Like that print in them sweats
Tell them girls, “Thank you, next”
I like when they text me sexy pics of ’em
Like them abs when there’s six of ’em
Tell them girls I’m sorry
I like boys

Mama, boys like me (I like boys who like boys)
Hahaha (I like boys who like boys)
Work (I like boys who like boys)
Mama (yeah) (I like boys who like)
Boys like me (sorry) (boys like me)
Not sorry (boys like me)
(Boys like me)
Motherfuckin’ boys like me, bitch

“I Like Boys” is a song by American singer Todrick Hall; he co-produced and co-wrote the song with Jean Yves Ducornet. Hall released the song during Pride 2019. The video opens with Hall coming out to his mother played by Luenell. The video shifts to a desert with Hall surrounded by male dancers and a camel. The song celebrates Hall’s sexuality, featuring color, cultural references, and male nudity. 

Hall describes “I Like Boys” as campy, and I would agree. I am sure it is not to everyone’s taste, but I suspect a lot of us can identify with what Hall says in the song:

I like when they almost naked
Tell dad I’m so homo
Lights off, doors shut
Tall, dark, clean-cut
Thick with a bubble butt, yup

Mama, I like boys, I like pecs
Like them arms when they flex
Like that print in them sweats

Todrick Hall (born April 4, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, and choreographer. He gained national attention on the ninth season of American Idol. Following this, he amassed a huge following on YouTube with viral videos including original songs, parodies, and skits. He aspires to be a role model for LGBTQ and people of color. He once again gained notoriety in 2022 for his tactless and manipulative behavior on the third season of Celebrity Big Brother.

Starting with season eight, Hall became a resident choreographer and occasional judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race. From 2016 to 2017, Hall starred as Lola in Kinky Boots on Broadway. Later in 2017, he began appearances as Billy Flynn in Chicago on Broadway and the West End.

As a singer-songwriter he has released four studio albums, including the visual albums Straight Outta Oz (2016) and Forbidden (2018). In 2020 he released an EP, Quarantine Queen, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic featuring “Mask, Gloves, Soap, Scrub”, and was the international host of Global Pride 2020.

Younger Me
Songwriters: Kendell Marvel / John Osborne / Thomas Osborne

Younger me
Made it harder than it had to be
Trying hard to dodge my destiny
Would get the best of me

Younger me
Way too young to pace a bedroom floor
Always dreamed of kicking down the door
What were you waiting for

Younger me
Was as reckless as he should have been
Close calls and downfalls and getting back up again
And doing it all again

Younger me
Overthinking, losing sleep at night
Contemplating if it’s worth the fight
If he only knew he’d be alright
Yeah, younger me

Youth ain’t wasted on the young
These trips around the sun
I needed every one
To get where I’m standing now
It’s an uphill road to run
For my father’s son
Keep it together
It won’t be that way forever

Younger me
Hanging out but not quite fitting in
Didn’t know that being different
Really wouldn’t be the end
Younger me (yeah)

Yeah
Yeah, oh
Yeah

Youth ain’t wasted on the young
These trips around the sun
I needed every one
To get where I’m standing now
It’s an uphill road to run
Yeah, for my father’s son
Keep it together
It won’t be that way forever

Younger me
You got me where I am today
Got a few things right along the way
You’ll see, just wait
Younger me

About the Song

T.J. Osborne publicly came out as gay in an interview with Time on February 3, 2021. Following his coming out, Osborne wrote “Younger Me” as a letter to his younger self. Like many of us who have come out, Osborne said, “I’ve always wished I could speak to my younger self, give him a hug and show him who he’d become and what he’d achieve. Once I came out, that feeling was so overwhelmingly strong that this song was born.”

One of the things that makes country music so popular is that it is relatable. “Younger Me” blends that relatable country storytelling with a bit of a pop anthem. The song is a refreshing take on country music nostalgia. Often, nostalgic songs look back fondly on the songwriter’s childhood and simpler times, and the present is either presented as hard or having lost its innocence along the way. “Younger Me” is a different kind of story.

The song perfectly encapsulates a more compelling kind of nostalgia that does not rewrite the complexities and confusion of childhood: “Overthinking, losing sleep at night / contemplating if it’s worth the fight”. The lyrics are crisp and vital, evoking specific details (“To pace a bedroom floor”), and are wonderfully free of cliché. For Brothers’ Osborne, the future hold both threat and possibility, and the past contains both hurt and experiences from which to learn and grow. 

Brothers Osborne’s music has always had a broad appeal amongst pop and country fans, and “Younger Me” perfects this balance. This is a dazzling pop anthem if ever I heard one, yet the sharp storytelling proves that Osborne is a bona fide country songwriter too. 

T.J. Osborne is gay and proud with this song and shows that it is possible not only to be queer in country music, but also to celebrate these aspects of ourselves. “Younger Me” is the perfect embrace that a queer kid might need, a Pride anthem for country music fans.

Thank you, Dylan, for introducing me to this song.

Follow Your Arrow
Songwriters: Shane L. Mcanally / Kacey Musgraves / Brandy Lynn Clark

If you save yourself for marriage
You’re a bore
You don’t save yourself for marriage
You’re a horrible person
If you won’t have a drink
Then you’re a prude
But they’ll call you a drunk
As soon as you down the first one

If you can’t lose the weight
Then you’re just fat
But if you lose too much
Then you’re on crack

You’re damned if you do
And you’re damned if you don’t
So you might as well just do
Whatever you want

So, make lots of noise (hey)
Kiss lots of boys (yup)
Or kiss lots of girls
If that’s something you’re into
When the straight and narrow
Gets a little too straight
Roll up a joint, or don’t

Just follow your arrow
Wherever it points, yeah
Follow your arrow
Wherever it points

If you don’t go to church
You’ll go to hell
If you’re the first one on the front row
You’re self-righteous son of a-

Can’t win for losin’
You’ll just disappoint ’em
Just ’cause you can’t beat ’em
Don’t mean you should join ’em

So, make lots of noise (hey)
Kiss lots of boys (yup)
Or kiss lots of girls
If that’s something you’re into
When the straight and narrow
Gets a little too straight
Roll up a joint, or don’t

Just follow your arrow
Wherever it points, yeah
Follow your arrow
Wherever it points

Say what you think (Say what you think)
Love who you love (Love who you love)
‘Cause you just get so many trips ’round the sun
Yeah, you only
Only live once

So make lots of noise (hey)
Kiss lots of boys (yup)
Or kiss lots of girls
If that’s what you’re into
When the straight and narrow
Gets a little too straight
Roll up a joint, I would

And follow your arrow
Wherever it points, yeah
Follow your arrow
Wherever it points

Kacey Musgraves’ single, ‘Follow Your Arrow,’ caused some controversy in the often non-accepting country music industry when it came out. But according to the up-and-coming singer, the song started out as a simple gesture to a close friend. Musgraves said, “It started off as a poem, honestly, for this friend who was going off to Paris for four months studying and she was leaving everything she knew behind, going to a foreign country [and] didn’t know the language. I gave her this little arrow necklace and I wrote a little poem and it had ‘follow your arrow’ in it, ‘kiss lots of boys,’ and it kind of started there, but it turned into a bigger idea.”

The song is about self-acceptance, imploring listeners to not worry too much about whether others judge their life choices. The song’s live and let live lyrics regarding gay people came just three years after Chely Wright made headlines by being the first country star of her caliber to come out of the closet. Although some potential fans surely write off Musgraves as too liberal, the song didn’t halt Musgraves success. Either Wright and other openly gay country singers, like Billy Gillman, made a significant enough impact on changing listeners’ minds in a short span of years, or Musgraves’ ageless messages of loving your neighbor and minding your own business overshadowed socio-political divisiveness enough for her not to get banished from country music.

 I thought I’d do a Musical March for my poetry posts this month. Some of the greatest songs either began as poems like “Follow Your Arrow” did or they are poetry within themselves.