What songs deal with unrequited loved between a gay man and a straight man?
April 12, 2011 4:41 PM   Subscribe

What are some songs that lyrically deal with unrequited love between a gay male and a (questionably) straight male?

I've been asked to find a song that deals with this situation, preferably something that is within the pop region, but it doesn't have to be.

Thanks in advance!
posted by donquixote to Media & Arts (30 answers total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Killers -- Andy You're A Star
posted by threeants at 4:48 PM on April 12, 2011


Mika - Billy Brown
posted by rossination at 5:01 PM on April 12, 2011


Rufus Wainwright - The Art Teacher (?)
posted by John Cohen at 5:06 PM on April 12, 2011


There's a few Pansy Division songs that do. (Hippy Dude springs to mind).

But they may be a little, uh, cruder than you're looking for.
posted by lumpenprole at 5:10 PM on April 12, 2011


Not completely sure it fits, but the first thing I thought of was "You only tell me you love me when you're drunk" by The Pet Shop Boys.
posted by neilbert at 5:14 PM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm Still Your Fag by Broken Social Scene, though the "straight" man is really closeted gay/bisexual.
posted by randomname25 at 5:25 PM on April 12, 2011


Lady Stardust by David Bowie

I smiled sadly for a love I could not obey.
Lady Stardust sang his songs
of darkness and dismay
posted by kimdog at 5:34 PM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


William, it Was Really Nothing by The Smiths
posted by Morpeth at 5:36 PM on April 12, 2011


A cover of You Oughta Know with a male singer turned it into something close to that. (Googling, I'm probably thinking of the 1000 Mona Lisas cover.)
posted by Zed at 5:39 PM on April 12, 2011


Jesse - Ivri Lider
posted by majikstreet at 5:41 PM on April 12, 2011


The Beautiful South - Don't Marry Her - I don't care if it's a woman singing the song, when I sing it, it's about a guy =p

White Town - Your Woman
posted by nomisxid at 5:41 PM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


It's not directly about unrequited love, but you could make the argument that the subject of Franz Ferdinand's song "Michael" is about a gay man pining after a straight one.
posted by baronessa at 5:42 PM on April 12, 2011




William, It Was Really Nothing by The Smiths.
posted by ROTFL at 6:21 PM on April 12, 2011


Rufus Wainwright - The Art Teacher

I vaguely recall reading an interview with him where he mentions that this was about a real-life case of a high school girl falling in love with her art teacher. However, this reminded me of another possibility by Rufus Wainwright "14th Street"
posted by prenominal at 6:36 PM on April 12, 2011




The Smiths' "What Difference Does It Make?" could also (potentially) be about this. (Or maybe just about a gay man losing a friend after coming out.)
posted by Judith Butlerian Jihad at 8:08 PM on April 12, 2011


The Magnetic Fields - The Night You Can't Remember

The Magnetic Fields - The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side

And probably many, many more of the MF's songs. I'm guessing on the last one, though.
posted by two lights above the sea at 8:30 PM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


Oops, I was thinking of a different song; the night you can't remember is in e POV of a women, I believe. Sorry.
posted by two lights above the sea at 8:32 PM on April 12, 2011


Elton Motello's "Jet Boy, Jet Girl," sort of, I guess? Also covered by The Damned, Captain Sensible, Chron Gen, etc.
posted by infinitywaltz at 8:49 PM on April 12, 2011


I'm so glad you asked this! Try It (I'm In Love With A Married Man) by the Pet Shop Boys is one of my favorite favorite favorite guilty pleasure songs of all time. Something about it just breaks my heart.
posted by ferngully at 9:08 PM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


If you're open to a female perspective, Secret by Missy Higgins fits the bill exactly. Raw & heartfelt.
posted by widdershins at 5:55 AM on April 13, 2011


Levi Kreis "I Should Go." (The lyrics don't necessarily make it explicit that it's guy/guy, it could be read as any unrequited love situation, but Kreis himself is gay and said in interviews that the song was inspired by having a crush on a straight man.)
posted by dnash at 7:11 AM on April 13, 2011


Rikki Don't Lose that Number has always meant this to me. Rightly or wrongly, I have always heard the first two Steely Dan albums and assumed that they were queer, and writing about that. Through With Buzz, Midnight Cruiser, etc.
posted by Danf at 7:58 AM on April 13, 2011


The Smiths - I Want the One I Can't Have
posted by ifjuly at 8:31 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Lola - The Kinks
posted by Leontine at 8:42 AM on April 13, 2011


Erin McKeown's James
posted by that's candlepin at 1:44 PM on April 13, 2011


Tim, I Wish You Were Born a Girl by Of Montreal
posted by anotherthink at 5:26 PM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]




"I Could Never Be Your Woman" - White Town
posted by bearette at 11:04 PM on April 30, 2011


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