Billie Eilish explains meaning behind new single 'Wish You Were Gay' (original) (raw)
Billie Eilish‘s new single ‘Wish You Were Gay‘ might prompt some questions about the story behind the track’s striking title and lyrics, but the rising star has already spoken about the deeper meaning behind the track.
On her Instagram story in July last year, Eilish spoke directly to fans about the real-life events that inspired the track, along with an acoustic snippet of the then-unreleased music. The footage was recently reposted by PopBuzz
“I wrote this song about a guy that really was not interested in me and it made me feel horrible, so the song is called ‘Wish You Were Gay’,” she says in the video.
The song’s chorus includes the lyrics: “To spare my pride / To give your lack of interest an explanation / I’m not your type / Maybe I’m not your preferred gender orientation”
She clarifies in the 2018 video: “And that’s so not meant to be offensive in any way. It doesn’t mean that I wish he was like… it literally means I wish he was gay so that he didn’t like me for an actual reason, instead of the fact that he didn’t like me.”
Eilish continues to say that the boy in question did in fact come out as gay. “And guess what? He just came out to me like a couple weeks ago. So I wrote the song and made him fuck a dude. I’m fucking proud, bro! Except not really though because I was really into him, like so into him, he’s so hot oh my God, he’s so attractive.”
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The finished version of ‘Wish You Were Gay’ was released today (March 4). Her debut album ‘When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ is due on March 29.
Meanwhile, Eilish recently discussed how her experiences with crippling night terrors had shaped the sound of her debut album.