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Wish You Were Gay
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Wish You Were Gay
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Billie Eilish
| album = When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
| released =
| written = 2015 or 2016
| genre =
* Pop
* classic pop
| length =
| label = * Darkroom
* Interscope
| writer = * Billie Eilish
* Finneas O'Connell
| producer = Finneas O'Connell
| prev_title = Bury a Friend
| prev_year = 2019
| next_title = Bad Guy
| next_year = 2019
| misc =
}}
"'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 released 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. The song, which Eilish wrote when she was 14, is about her wanting the boy that she likes to be gay, so she would understand why he was not interested in her. Some listeners interpreted the title and lyrics as an act of queerbaiting, and Eilish stated the song's lyrics were not meant to be offensive to the LGBTQ community.
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 and release
Billie Eilish wrote "Wish You Were Gay" when she was 14 years old, about a boy in whom she took a romantic interest. She introduced the song and previewed a demo of it to her fans through her Instagram account in July 2018. Eilish explained that the boy did not reciprocate her romantic feelings, saddened that he did not love her back. Seeking a rationale for his disinterest in her, she hoped that he was attracted only to men: "[The song] 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." Some time after she wrote the song, the boy approached Eilish and came out to her as gay. About the situation, she commented that she "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." She stated that the song was not meant to be offensive to the queer community.
"Wish You Were Gay" is the fourth single from Eilish's debut studio album 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?' (2019). The song was released as a single on March 4, 2019. Eilish announced in a press release that for the next 48 hours, a portion of proceeds from her online merchandise store would be donated to The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide and crisis prevention program for at-risk LGBTQ youth. A supplementary YouTube video accompanied the release, in which Eilish and the song's producer, her brother Finneas O'Connell, broke down the inspiration behind "Wish You Were Gay". She explained: "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." The next year on March 25, Eilish posted to Instagram and told her fans about the songs that inspired each track from 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?'. For "Wish You Were Gay", she said that she was inspired by "Body Count" by Jessie Reyez, "Eres T" by Carla Morrison, and "Boy" by Anne-Marie.
Composition and lyrics
so she can explain his lack of interest in him.
"Wish You Were Gay" was described as a jazz-inspired pop and classic pop track by music critics. Finneas said during an interview with MTV that he wanted the song to get to a "bombastic, triumphant place" production-wise. He aimed to create an exciting climax for "Wish You Were Gay", with "hefty beats and all these stomps and claps". 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". Chris Darville of 'Stereogum' mentioned the song is "a swaying torch song about being rejected and wishing there were extenuating circumstances" 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".
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 thats easier on the ego". 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. 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 Im not your type/Just say Im not your preferred sexual orientation".
Reception
In 'Clash', Yasmin Cowan opined the "feeling of unrequited love is perfectly encapsulated" in the song. '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". Sean Ward, for 'The Line of Best Fit', said the song "may be problematic in its desire to change someones sexual orientation, yet the burning teenage frustrations of unrequited lust are captured exceptionally here". Robert Christgau of 'Vice' magazine described the song as "tunefully cooed".
Jason Lipshutz from '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". 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'". '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 Perrys 'Ur So Gay'.
The song received backlash for its lyrics related to homosexual attraction. Some of Eilish's fansmany of whom were queerexpected her to release a gay anthem or come out as being attracted to women based on the song's title. Once they found out what "Wish You Were Gay" was about, they criticized it for what they perceived as queerbaiting, which is an act of hinting at the possibility of a same-gender relationship but never depicting it explicitly. A number of fans were mad at Eilish's joke about making the song's subject "fuck a dude". Others suggested that she was objectifying gay men, while some said that critics were misinterpreting "Wish You Were Gay" or should not have expected it to be for the queer community. Eilish responded to the criticisms, clarifying the meaning of the song and stating that detractors might have missed the point of the lyrics. She added that she intended to portray herself as a "selfish ass" and tried to make the song as inoffensive as possible.
Commercial performance
"Wish You Were Gay" debuted on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart a week after its release, at number 74. After another week, it climbed to number 59, making it Eilish's third song to reach the chart's top 60. On April 13, 2019, 14 of Eilish's songs were on the 'Billboard' Hot 100"Wish You Were Gay" was one of them. The event made her the female artist with the most simultaneous 'Billboard' Hot 100 entries, until Taylor Swift took the record with all 18 tracks from 'Lover' (2019). "Wish You Were Gay" reached its chart peak that day at number 31, placed at number 84 the previous tracking week. By May, it acquired over 175 million streams on Spotify. 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.
'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?' was released on March 29, 2019. After the album's release, during the start of April 2019, "Wish You Were Gay" jumped from number 42 to its peak of number 13 in the UK Singles Chart. It joined other album tracks "Bad Guy" and "Bury a Friend" in the top 20. In the Irish Singles Chart, where the three songs reached the top 10, "Wish You Were Gay" climbed to a new, all-time peak of number 6. By mid-April, the three were also in the top 10 of the singles chart by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). "Wish You Were Gay" placed at number 9 during that time, and it eventually peaked at number 5 in the chart. The song reached the top 20 in Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, and Sweden.
Live performances
in 2019
Eilish went on a concert show in London less than 24 hours after the release of "Wish You Were Gay", performing it alongside songs mostly from her debut extended play titled 'Don't Smile at Me' (2017). She shared a video of the performance to YouTube around a month later, in April 30. Eilish also sang "Wish You Were Gay" in a concert she hosted in the Greek Theatre of Los Angeles on July 12, 2019. The song was in the set list of tours in support of 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?': one in 2019 and another in 2020.
Throughout 2019, Eilish included "Wish You Were Gay" at three music festivals: Coachella in April, Glastonbury in June, and Pukkelpop in August. She performed the song for an episode of BBC Radio 1, which was set at Maida Vale Studios. During a show for MTV Push, Eilish sang it alongside "Xanny" and "When the Party's Over", two other tracks from 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?'. "Wish You Were Gay" was one of many songs that Eilish played after receiving Artist of the Year during the first annual Apple Music Awards in December 2019.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.
* Billie Eilish vocals, songwriter
* Finneas O'Connell producer, songwriter
* Rob Kinelski mixer, studio personnel
* John Greenham mastering engineer, studio personnel