Wish You Were Gay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Wish You Were Gay"
Single by Billie Eilish
from the album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
ReleasedMarch 4, 2019 (2019-03-04)
RecordedMarch 2018
Genre
  • Pop
  • classic pop
Length3:41
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Finneas O'Connell
Billie Eilish singles chronology
"Bury a Friend"
(2019) 		"Wish You Were Gay"
(2019) 		"Bad Guy"
(2019)

"Wish You Were Gay" (stylized in all lowercase) is the fourth single on American singer Billie Eilish's debut studio album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019). It was written by Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell, while the latter solely handled the production. The song was release as the fourth single from the album on March 4, 2019, through Darkroom and Interscope Records. "Wish You Were Gay" is a jazz-inspired pop and classic pop track with an acoustic guitar and applause at the end. Eilish said the song's lyrics were not meant to be offensive in any way to the LGBTQ community. She wanted the boy that she liked to be gay so that there would be a reason he wasn't interested in her.

Some critics compared "Wish You Were Gay" to Katy Perry's 2007 song "Ur So Gay". The song peaked at number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while reaching the top five of singles charts in Australia, Latvia, Lithuania, and New Zealand. The song has received several certifications, including being certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Eilish performed the song during her When We All Fall Asleep Tour (2019) and Where Do We Go? World Tour (2020).

Background[]

Billie Eilish explained in a statement that she wrote "Wish You Were Gay" when she was only 14.[1] It was first introduced by Eilish on her Instagram in July 2018.[2][3][4] She explained to her fans that she wrote the song about a guy that she had feelings for, but he did not feel the same.[2] She continued, saying she felt horrible that he did not love her back, and ended up writing "Wish You Were Gay".[3] She discussed that the song was not meant to be offensive in any way to the LGBTQ community.[3] Eilish wanted her crush to be gay so that there would be a reason he wasn't interested in her.[2] It was later found out the boy Eilish had a crush on told her he was gay.[2] Eilish joked, saying, "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."[2]

Eilish further campaigned with the single, announcing in a press release that for 48 hours, a portion of all proceeds from her online merch store would be donated to The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide and crisis prevention program for at-risk LGBTQ youth.[5][6] In a YouTube video, Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell broke down the inspiration behind the track, with Eilish explaining, "This was a situation where I was fucking all for this kid, like oh my god. It was the kind of love where everything was thrown out there and nothing was latched onto."[7] In an interview with MTV, Finneas said he wanted the song to get to a "bombastic, triumphant place, sonically". It was important to him that the song got to an exciting climax "[with] hefty beats and all these stomps and claps".[8]

Composition and lyrics[]

"Wish You Were Gay" was described as a jazz-inspired pop and classic pop track by music critics.[9][10][11] The song is composed in the key of G major with a moderate tempo of 118 beats per minute. Eilish's vocals span a range of G3 to D5 and its chord progression follows a basic sequence of Am–D7–Gmaj7–Em.[12] Jon Pareles from The New York Times wrote the song starts with an acoustic guitar chords and Eilish's voice. And it later includes a "tittering audience and applause at the end, insisting that the song is archly theatrical".[9] Chris Darville of Stereogum mentioned the song is "a swaying torch song about being rejected and wishing there were extenuating circumstances"[13] while Craig Jenkins of Vulture said it "arrogantly attempts to justify a crush's lack of interest in her as a side effect of the fact that he simply prefers men".[14]

Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone wrote "Eilish means to profess her love for a boy whose lack of reciprocity she finds suspect. But in lieu of accepting that he's just not that into her, Eilish resorts to a conclusion that’s easier on the ego".[15] The song's lyrics center on Eilish's frustration that her crush does not reciprocate her feelings towards him, and wishes that he were gay so they didn't go out with other girls over her.[9][16][11] Christopher Thiessen from Consequence of Sound mentions that Eilish "pokes fun at her own heartache. Instead of accepting that her love is unrequited, she selfishly asks: “To spare my pride/To give your lack of interest an explanation/Don't say I’m not your type/Just say I’m not your preferred sexual orientation".[17]

Critical reception[]

In Clash, Yasmin Cowan opined the "feeling of unrequited love is perfectly encapsulated" in the song.[16] musicOMH writer John Murphy stated "it's a typically teenage view of the world, but shot through with such world-weary ennui that it never becomes less than compelling".[11] Sean Ward, for The Line of Best Fit, said the song "may be problematic in its desire to change someone’s sexual orientation, yet the burning teenage frustrations of unrequited lust are captured exceptionally here".[18] Robert Christgau of Vice magazine described the song as "tunefully cooed".[19]

Jason Lipshutz from of Billboard said the song "stumbles over its titular metaphor at a crucial moment in the track list. Yet it also prevents the album from ever getting stale".[20] Chris Willman of Variety viewed the track has "equal potential to be misunderstood — Eilish is just expressing the common teen sentiment that she wishes the dude who doesn't dig her had a better, born-this-way explanation for it, so it's no 'Ur So Gay'".[21] Pitchfork's Stacey Anderson commented that the song "spotlights Eilish's vocals, which deserved better than being spackled with canned studio laughter and self-involved lyrics in the lamentable lineage of Katy Perry’s 'Ur So Gay'.[22]

Release and commercial performance[]

"Wish You Were Gay" was released as the fourth single on March 4, 2019, from Eilish's debut studio album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.[5] Following the release of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, "Wish You Were Gay" peaked at number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[23] At the same time, Eilish broke the record of most simultaneous Hot 100 entries for a female artist.[24] It has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting track-equivalent sales of 1,000,000 units in the US based on sales and streams.[25] The song reached the top five in Australia,[26] Latvia,[27] Lithuania,[28] and New Zealand.[29] It further charted in the top-20 in Austria,[30] Canada,[31] Czech Republic,[32] Finland,[33] France,[34] Ireland,[35] Malaysia,[36] Norway,[36] Portugal,[37] Singapore,[38] Sweden,[39] and the United Kingdom.[40]

Live performances[]

To promote "Wish You Were Gay", Eilish performed it at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April,[41] at the Glastonbury Festival in June,[42] and at Pukkelpop in August 2019.[43] "Ilomilo" was included on the setlist of Eilish's 2019 When We All Fall Asleep Tour.[44] In December 2019, Eilish performed "Wish You Were Gay" at the Steve Jobs Theater for the first annual Apple Music Awards after she won artist of the year, with O'Connell playing the piano.[45] The track was also included on the setlist of her 2020 Where Do We Go? World Tour.[46]

Credits and personnel[]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[47]

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[66] Platinum 70,000double-dagger
Austria (IFPI Austria)[67] Gold 15,000double-dagger
Canada (Music Canada)[68] Gold 40,000double-dagger
Italy (FIMI)[69] Gold 35,000double-dagger
Mexico (AMPROFON)[70] Platinum 60,000double-dagger
New Zealand (RMNZ)[71] Gold 15,000double-dagger
Norway (IFPI Norway)[72] Gold 30,000double-dagger
Poland (ZPAV)[73] Platinum 20,000double-dagger
Portugal (AFP)[74] Gold 5,000double-dagger
United Kingdom (BPI)[75] Gold 400,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[25] Platinum 1,000,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[]

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External links[]

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