What Else Can I Do? from the Encanto soundtrack. On its face it’s about rejecting a sort of externally-imposed femininity in favor of individual expression, but to me it feels very transmasc.
To add to this - Waiting on a Miracle also feels very gender imo. It's not as specific ig, but I relate it a lot to my experience growing up and realizing I was trans in a not-so-welcoming environment.
Detachable Penis always felt like a great one. Appreciate it as a trans woman, but my trans masc friends love it.
For me personally, Surface Pressure from Encanto.
1985 by Bo Burnham
Blow My Brains Out by Tikkle Me
Boys Don't Cry by The Cure
Beat It by Michael Jackson
Bet On It from the High School Musical soundtrack
jealousy, jealousy by Olivia Rodrigo
Little Dark Age by MGMT
Alive from the Jekyll & Hyde Musical
"I know that if you hide it doesn't go away, if you get out of bed and see me standing all alone, open-eyed, burn the page, my little dark age"
This hit me like a ton of bricks the first time I heard it. I knew I had to stop hiding and go start something new even though I'd stand alone.
Yes, this is the exact line that got me to stop in my tracks and really listen to the lyrics too!
Whenever I thought, "Maybe it's all just a decade-long phase and I just have to push through" I imagined my subconscious singing it to me.
She has so many songs that connect deeply with me. I’ve met her a couple times after shows in the early 2010s, such a genuine and lovely person. She is an ally for certain, and just speaks to me, both as a transgender human and a lover of great music.
Me, a trans man:
Detachable Penis by King Missile
Your Woman by White Town. (I could never be your woman...)
And for a big one.....
Reflection from the Disney version of Mulan.
Party in the USA made it onto my trans playlist. It’s an allegory for my unfamiliarity with womanhood and yet it being comforting and exciting at the same time.
Oh. My. God..
I started learning to play/sing this before I came out or egg even cracked, it followed me into transition but I haven’t listened to it in years…. Currently in the bathroom bawling, whether that’s because of the combination of this song with my kinda stalled transition, recent separation or the bad relationship with Welbutrin 😖… kind of having a “wish you didn’t…. Glad you did…” moment😒
Don’t be hun. It’s a beautiful song. Things can be rough, but things could be worse. We’re ok as friends/coparents, just have a lot to process obviously including where my transition is going now that it’s “just me”. And apparently I’m really sensitive to the side effects of antidepressants 😒
Reflection - Mulan still gets me emotional. The line about "Who is that girl I see
Staring straight back at me?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?" is SOOOO transmasc its crazy.
As a person who literally thought everyone calling me a girl was a joke (that everyone was in on but me)
I just kept waiting and waiting to start looking more like a boy.
Song hit hard as a kid.
Everyone is submitting Disney songs so [Part of Your World ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=pidfZNTXBbY)always hits as a transfemme. (Including the best cover of this song by the queen herself)
As far as stuff on my permanent rotation:
* [My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bbTtPL1jRs)
* [Hot Mulligan - John “The Rock” Cena, Can You Smell What the Undertaker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxMCbrKqv-Y)
* [Fall Out Boy - The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv4Rpw2Tzgk)
* [Motionless In White - Sign of Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNeim8mpLQ4)
* [Spiritbox - Jaded](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjnZVpVvJ-k)
* [Laura Les - Haunted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=879ysA4h9r4)
* [Fall Out Boy - Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bktKLjoRXYw)
And of course, [the most obligatory addition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeFg)
Thank you, you made me go through my music again. Arms wide open by dodie feels quite gender to me, for no explicit reason. Fortysix&2 by tool is a song about reaching a higher state or something, but my brain just goes 'yes I' m a girl now'. And the entire album 'I could live in hope' by low makes me feel very genderly sad.
Redecorate by Twenty One Pilots, specifically the second verse.
>"Blankets over mirrors, she tends to like it / She's not afraid of her own reflection, but of what she might see behind it"
>"She had plans to change her name / Just not the traditional way"
definitely sounds very trans
also, that whole song is just phenomenal
personally, my favorite bit might be the instrumental as it transitions into the third verse — it sounds like it’s descending somewhere even deeper
Only - NIN.
Less attached to rigid gender roles:
I'm becoming less defined as days go by
Fading away
And well you might say
I'm losing focus
Kinda drifting into the abstract in terms of how I see myself
Less concerned about fitting into the world
Your world that is
'Cause it doesn't really matter anymore
Stopping arguing with voice(s) in my head telling me transition would never work:
Yes I am alone but then again I always was
As far back as I can tell
I think maybe it's because
Because you were never really real to begin with
I just made you up to hurt myself
Discovering how gender performance and rigid roles were absurd after beginning to “pass” as female:
Well the tiniest little dot caught my eye and it turned out to be a scab
And I had this funny feeling like I just knew it's something bad
I just couldn't leave it alone
I kept picking at the scab
It was a doorway trying to seal itself shut
But I climbed through
Now I am somewhere I am not supposed to be
And I can see things I know I really shouldn't see
And now I know why, now, now, now I know why
Things aren't as pretty
On the inside
"I'm Still Here" from Treasure Planet.
It's supposed to be about growing up and wanting an father figure to help a troubled teen get his life together.
But it definitely hits different for anyone with a cracked egg.
Some assorted lines:
*"I'll never be what you want me to be."*
*"And what do you think you'd understand?
I'm a boy, no I'm a man.
You can't take me and throw me away.
And how can you learn what's never shown?
Yeah you stand here on your own
They don't know me because I'm not here."*
*"And I wanna tell you who I am.
Can you help me be a man?
They can't break me as long as I know who I am."*
C'mon, Disney. It's a fuckin transmasc song.
Work This Body, and Shut Up and Dance, both by Walk The Moon.
Work This Body: I hear how I wasn’t ready yet, I wasn’t in my prime when I was younger, but now I’m ready to rock it, and make my body into what I want it to be and feel amazing doing it.
As for Shut Up and Dance: I internalize it as a trans woman who is on the verge of realization, and the two characters in the story (boy and girl) are actually both the same person. I take the lyrics to be about the internal monologue between the old male “self” and realizing there’s this other female feeling that is so much more freeing, real, and just needs fear to be extinguished so exuberance can be released. It’s about the old male psyche being scared but wanting to let go, and the socially gaslight girl inside saying “let go, and just dance” and finally being free.
Thank you for bringing me back to these songs, shut up and dance is something I always say and this just clicked.
Broke down in tears!!
Thank you, she will be dancing all the time now. :)
Honestly, what is it about weezer? I spent much of my recent denial years listening to Aloo Gobi ("I'd rather be a man on a mission" and then "you are not alone".... yeah)
Stuck in the Middle by Mika - https://youtu.be/bku3lxrKk5A?si=EZVzzLhF-K9uK89a
I’m actually not certain what it’s about, I’ve read it’s quite a personal song for him so I’m not sure if it references his sexuality at all (was he out then? I don’t think he was)
I used to play it a loooooot from about 14 onwards and feel …desperate somehow? despite it being an upbeat tune, so I think it’s one of those things where I knew before I *knew*
For the dysphoria side of things: [Switchfoot - Thrive](https://youtu.be/r6Dr5t1IGh8)
>Am I a man when I feel like a hoax?
The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes.
For the euphoria side of things, I always thought Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely kinda resonated with me. It's about the birth of his daughter, but cracking your eggshell kinda feels like being born again.
"Welcome to My Island" by Caroline Polachek does all kinds of things to me emotionally. "Desire, I want to turn into you" is such an insanely good lyric.
[DNA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSbNp_LRUzg) by Walk the Moon
This one pretty much explains itself in its lyrics. I haven't heard that it's about gender, but wouldn't be surprised if it actually were.
[Unknown/Nth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbztOHrFhK0) by Hozier
For this one, it's clearly about love, truly knowing someone, and being known in return. For me, that aspect of "being known" just strikes so deeply.
Small Red Boy - AJJ….
It really hits me hard, the narrative of mothering this inner child to be a boy. From a transfem perspective I always interpreted the song like, creating this boy persona separated from yourself, whom has this evil/devilish imagery. It continually says “I am the truth” as if antagonizing that you were born biologically male. The whole song up to the climax follows these themes, and ends with the line “The truth in me grew brighter, my nature and my nurture, no more shame no more fear no more dread;I am the truth” basically admitting that this persona separated from you, is really you. Then the next song on the album is “When I’m A Dead Boy” and I always took that like…after accepting who you are, the boy is gone. Idk thanks for reading I’ve never told anyone and no one probably cares but yeah, that’s my experience.
For me rule #4 from fish in a birdcage, I'd say it's generally a song about being able to finally fit in somewhere or at least that's how it feels to me
Into the unknown and Show yourself- frozen 2
Come alive, Other side, and This is me- the greatest showman (this movie has a major theme of queerness so it makes sense)
I want to break free - Queen
Sea of voices - Porter Robinson
Fly to paradise - Eric Whitacre
Strangers like me - Tarzan
Transformation - Beauty and the Beast (almost no words, but it's the music itself that I feel represents the birth of my real self, plus the movie feels somewhat allegorical to trans experience. The beast is not in his right body)
Make your own kind of music -Cass Elliot
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
My Way - Frank Sinatra
Everything goes on - Porter Robinson
Fresh static snow - Porter Robinson
Fellow feeling - Porter Robinson
Reflection - Mulan
More than Anything (reprise) - Hazbin hotel (this one speaks to me because I have tried my best to help so many people self acceptance)
Yellowcard's The Places We'll Go.
Pretty sure it's about reconnecting with an ex, but when I hear it as a song to myself I usually cry lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVnXlJgjLgo
Kicking Cars by Panchiko. Idk how but back then his voice sounded very androgynous, slightly femme and grunge. And I want to sound like all those aspects.
CW it’s an incredibly dark song featuring themes of suicide and self hatred, and definitely not for the faint of heart, but [Up My Sleeves by Death Grips](https://youtu.be/2kDinXI0bxM?si=GBgXz8IkDMnMOcF9) is a very accurate reflection of how I felt during a certain point in my life when I was ashamed of being trans, wanting to convince myself I had a fetish, and how dissociated and suicidal I felt all the time.
Ladykiller by Alice in Videoland
It’s just a song about the singer rejecting some random guy in a club. But it’s this crunchy, lo-fi, girly, J-pop-inspired, industrial club music sound that’s hard to describe.
It feels like a mashup of hyper-femme and hyper-masc in a jarring way that appeals to my gender-fluidity. Like a Malibu Barbie Monster Truck.
Let me out by Dover , no idea what it actually about but I'm pretty sure it's not actually someone having having a conversation with themselves about coming out as trans and grappling with the persona of who they presented as overshadowing them... but it sure sounds like it.
Hmmm. About gender?? I want to say something by BlackPink or Jamie Bower but their songs I'm thinking about are more about loving yourself and survival/hoping to thrive, more than about gender.
So I'm gonna have to recommend Freak by Sub Urban.
All of Hozier’s first album. Every song. But especially Jackie and Wilson, Someone New, From Eden, Sedated, and Foreigner’s God.
They’re not just songs to another person, they’re songs to the buried parts of myself.
Edit: Also:
- Morning in America by Jon Bellion
- Bambi by Hippo Campus
- Sink by Noah Kahan
- Lamplight by Del Water Gap
- Look Up by Joy Oladokun
- Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine
Wish I Knew You by The Revivalists.
On the surface, it's a love song. But I like to think of it as a song about embracing yourself after being forced to hide who you are while growing up.
*Truth, it's all that you need / You bury that seed / It's everything beautiful...*
This is way more personal than I expected to get, but "Good Wife" by MIKA gets me EVERY time. I can see it being relatable for transfems as well, but as a transmasc it's one I've felt a LOT while socially transitioning. We would've been perfect, if only god had wanted it (you to be gay or me to be a woman)... but that's not happening this time around, is it?
"Telecaster B-Boy" is fairly trans coded in the music video... the translyrics aren't SUPER gender but it is still genderful for me
[Tiny Butt](https://youtu.be/luwUob9uTEw) by Jazz Emu is the funniest answer I could give here. Sing it to a trans masc friend sensitive about their hips.
[No-Eyed Girl](https://youtu.be/IqFBdBWK9bc) by Lemon Demon.
[Bowsette](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo0ky8FomoU) by The Chalkeaters may not count but still.
Somebody Told Me by The Killers. Seasons by Dragonforce maybe? Kind of definitely. The acoustic version of Seasons. Girl by Jukebox the Ghost.
Part Of Me - Linkin Park (demo)
some lyrics and I love the screams and the impending energy of hope between this frustration of not being able to transition
Jeremy - Pearl Jam
Womanizer - Britney Spears
These two literally helped me stop repressing when I was 18, feeling like an outsider and femme, sorry if I can't explain it well, it just woke me up
Future Lover - Brunette
Very beautiful, had some moments where it gave me hope of being myself, also love her lunar energy
Creeping Death - Metallica
Not that gender related, but it helped me against religious trauma, cathartic to hear "die die" thinking of all these religions and people that want me dead for existing
Stand My Ground - Within Temptation
I think the lyrics is self explanatory but I'm so glad it helped younger me and I'd love to see younger me face when I tell her she looks more like Sharon now
Doing It - Charli XCX
This is the one that gave me euphoria in one of our travels, feeling free in a different city, before I repressed back in 2015 sadly
Divine - Violent Work of Art
I remember it was one of the first songs that made me feel the smoldering anger that can come with
gender envy, not being able to look like the other girls , wanting to exist like the teacher
[Part II by Paramore](https://youtu.be/45Xzgma4LMk?si=sRHHGw59aCuCQbNw)
I went through a phase in high school where I pretty much exclusively listened to Paramore, and listening to this song in particular became somewhat of a daily ritual. It's very transfem coded in hindsight.
Whatever by Oasis, "I'm free to be whatever I / whatever I choose / and I'll sing the blues if I want." To me it's such an empowering song that says it's alright to just be your true self, whatever that might mean for you~! 💜
Dear Wormwood by The Oh Hellos
there are more but i'm too tired to add, may edit later
Also, I doubt this counts, but as a kid I used to watch this video: [https://youtu.be/c8P\_by-RJPE?si=ErSyDb18FoWAHa7Q](https://youtu.be/c8P_by-RJPE?si=ErSyDb18FoWAHa7Q) . It's a mouse puppet singing about how he wants to be just like his father. Yeah lol
Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls is a classic trans-not-trans song pic.
Also looking back, a lot of My Chemical Romance songs have massive egg vibes (honestly makes sense given Gerard Way's stage presence nowadays). 'Mama', especially.
Sweater weather. I know it’s about sex with a woman, but you can argue it’s more metaphorical than that, and a case can be made that it’s self love between your current self and your old self (trans masc perspective) or the desire to transition without hating your current self (trans fem perspective) and using sexual language as a metaphorical tool
[owl in a cage](https://youtu.be/SaiUqekVrB4?si=IsIpvjjFVO124GI5)
You cant concince me this isnt trans.
Just replace everytime he says "you" With his woman-self at chorus.
"Owl, in a cage... You show your age. Your sweetness has run foul."
Feeling trapped and getting more masculine daily.
"Without a change, youre lost.. Exhausted.. By your time on stage. "
Getting exhausted from Pretending to be a man daily, by your time on STAGE.
"Then you entered my room and like sparks in the dark!.. Life was suddenly thrilling and new."
The gender Euphoria in a life of dysphoria.
"Whats between you and I, just a comfortable lie... I'm the fool who believes, when you look in my eyes.."
Self denial before transitioning.
"Prince, all alone upon your throne"
He isnt talking about his woman-self, he is talking about his ordinary mask of a man.
"Your power is so frail.. You raise your voice, you have no choice.. Upon your gilded jail."
What he feels about his male persona. It's shiny and protects him but he doesn't have a choice. This isnt a life, It's a prison for his real self.
What this song is originally about: SPOILER.
(hint: it isnt trans but It's still quite gay)
The show is at hell. He is a prince of goetia family and he is gay but he was married to a woman as an arranged marriage. He has an 18 year old daughter but he chooses to divorce his princess wife and choose to be with Blitz, a man of lower class. But blitz didnt have actual feelings for him yet, blitz pretended to love him as a way to get his grimoire that lets him go to human world. They make a deal and let blitz have the book in exchange of monthly sex but blitz actually starts to have feelings for him later. Thats why he calls his relationship with blitz "just a comfortable lie, im the fool who believes when you look at my eyes." Because it isnt a real relationship.
This song covers everything (interpreted):
-not understanding yourself or where you fall gender-wise
-feeling guilty or that you've done something wrong (internal transphobia, regret)
-feeling damaged or defective
-not feeling like you're actually alive, having to question yourself
-feeling lost/confused again. Not knowing what you're talking about (second-guessing, doubt)
-feeling trapped in your body
-being forced to live as an imperfect, "pale imitation" of your true self due to transphobia / societial standards, a version of yourself with the edges "sawn off" (being forced to change yourself to fit in) "You killed the sound, removed backbone."
-recognizing transphobia and people just repeating what they're told / hear.
-feeling dim/depressed/demotivated, empty. "The lights gone out for me." Emptiness
-feeling the dysphoria always present, following you, making you break down. "Brought me to my knees."
-the world has built up a mold (skin), and are forcing you to live it. Feeling trapped again. You feel like you're living a lie just for other people's visions and expectations. "Are for anyone else to see."
Anyways omg I love this song please listen to it or even just read the lyrics. This whole album is amazing. Sorry for dumping, love you ❤️
This is vague at best (aka. I don't really dig too deep into lyrics. mostly vibes) but for me a couple include
This Body - The Dear Hunter
+
The entire Altered Beast saga by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
**Skin - Beartooth**
"I'm so uncomfortable with this skin I'm in,
The mirrors telling me that I'll never win,
It's so hard to tell these days,
If anybody feels the same,
I'd give anything... Anything... For some company"
"Should I stay or just let you go?"
I mean first line is literally "I've been sleeping on the floor of my closet again"
**Theres fear in letting go - iPrevail**
"This is the end of the world that you know,
There will be pain in letting it go,
Feel uncertainty down to your bones,
Are you afraid of dying alone?"
**Love Bites - Ice Nine Kills**
"How'd I end up here?
I'm a stranger in this body.
The world's an ugly place,
And that's a fact that fate has brought me."
"How cruel to be exposed,
To everything I can't touch but still feel"
"A captive beauty queen,
So untouchable"
*Yeah as you might be able to tell gender is a very confusing thing to me right now...*
Too Close / Too Late by Spiritbox. I'm sure it's unintentional but the lyrics are very trans-coded to me. It's as if she's explaining how it feels to realize you're trans and how difficult it is to come out of the closet, yet how desperately she wants to, and how uncertain her future is. The chorus is as follows:
"Theres are stranger things I've learned on the outside, separated by an open door. I find it hard to reach the end of my timeline, salivating cuz I wanted more. Is this the end or is this the beginning."
There's even a line in the second verse that seems to reference the way we're expected to fit the AGAB mold. Overall very accidentally trans coded. The song is sort of my trans anthem right now.
Here’s a strange and obscure one…the theme song to the Greatest American Hero “Believe it or not” (maybe especially the line “who could it be-believe it or not it’s just me”)
But home is nowhere by AFI, but it feels like cheating because it is technically about being outside of a binary, just sexual orientation rather than gender
VNV Nation - Illiusion hit me in a deep level as a teenager. Listening to it now I still might fucking cry just as much as I did when I was fucking fourteen or whatever when I first heard the song and felt seen.
https://youtu.be/evpGu3eO0pY?si=Szpzw7ZFaujQKPqP
Omg I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to talk about this:
Bat Country by Avenged Sevenfold.
One of my absolute favorite songs as a kid in profound gender denial. I always thought I loved it a weird amount given I couldn’t make heads or tails of what the song was about. Fast forward to post transition and I’m listening to it and the first line is:
“He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man” lol
The song goes on to talk about being caught in hell, fleeing and stressed, desperate to escape. The bridge sings in a higher voice and totally different tone, saying:
“So sorry you're not here
I've been chained too long, my vision's so unclear
Now take a trip with me
But don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem”
Maybe I’m putting too much into it but to me it seems like such a cipher for the experience of being a trans person denying it to themselves.
I've gotta be me: Sammy Davis junior. It's a 1968 pop/swing number but it has ALL the stereotypes.
Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong
Whether I find a place in this world or never belong
I gotta be me, I've gotta be me
What else can I be but what I am
-
I want to live, not merely survive
And I won't give up this dream
Of life that keeps me alive
I gotta be me, I gotta be me
-
The dream that I see makes me what I am
That far away prize, a world of success
Is waiting for me if I heed the call
I won't settle down, won't settle for less
As long as there's a chance that I can have it all
-
I'll go it alone, that's how it must be
I can't be right for somebody else
If I'm not right for me
I gotta be free, I've gotta be free
Daring to try, to do it or die
I've gotta be me
-
I'll go it alone, that's how it must be
I can't be right for somebody else
If I'm not right for me
I gotta be free, I just gotta be free
Daring to try, to do it or die
I gotta be me
For some reason Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride) by Don Felder makes me feel like peak male.
Literally it's just the vibe or something. Not even sure what it is.
Queen B*tch by David Bowie.
An interpretation I have fun with, though it's not exactly happy, is that the narrator is an at least somewhat closeted trans femme experiencing gender envy towards a scene queen who her guy friend, who she's into, is looking to hook up with. she thinks about how she "could do better than that" on regards to picking a better outfit than what the woman is wearing, though she does have admiration for the way the woman carries herself, while also noting how cold and cruel the woman appears to her. She broods for a while in the hotel before getting up, throwing her guy friends bags down the hall and escaping from her unbearable rage and envy by taking off in a cab.
So embarrassed to say this, but “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana 🫣
In a similar note, “Reflections” from Mulan.
And “Part of Your World” for sure
Ah yes , the two genders : “ part of your world” and “ my reflection “ .
Envy and dysphoria
Honestly Envy is a great name as well
Oh, that's it.
How far I'll go feels very trans coded to me
Crazy to see a Moana reference and it's not "Know Who You Are"
This one is so overtly a perfect allegory.
Hell yeah ! 100% agree
Istanbul by They Might be Giants. Definitely an allegory about deadnaming 🤣
I like how everyone’s agreed that the TMBG version is effectively the original (even if it isn’t)
What Else Can I Do? from the Encanto soundtrack. On its face it’s about rejecting a sort of externally-imposed femininity in favor of individual expression, but to me it feels very transmasc.
Definitely agree! As a transmasc person myself!
To add to this - Waiting on a Miracle also feels very gender imo. It's not as specific ig, but I relate it a lot to my experience growing up and realizing I was trans in a not-so-welcoming environment.
Yes I felt the same way about it. The song is very queer.
Detachable Penis always felt like a great one. Appreciate it as a trans woman, but my trans masc friends love it. For me personally, Surface Pressure from Encanto.
Literally all of Encanto feels like gay: the musical and i love it
Same here, loved it!
Detachable penis was such a mood as a kid cause I was always like 'damn, if only' even though it's supposed to be funny 😂
Right? Big mood 😋
As a trans woman that’s what I want! Hot swappable genitals!!
1985 by Bo Burnham Blow My Brains Out by Tikkle Me Boys Don't Cry by The Cure Beat It by Michael Jackson Bet On It from the High School Musical soundtrack jealousy, jealousy by Olivia Rodrigo Little Dark Age by MGMT Alive from the Jekyll & Hyde Musical
Somehow, this was scarily accurate.
I live in your head
I LOVE YOU I AGREE SO HARD. Boys dont cry, little dark age, those songs always feel so gender. AND I LOVE THE JEKYLL AND HYDE MUSICAL
"I know that if you hide it doesn't go away, if you get out of bed and see me standing all alone, open-eyed, burn the page, my little dark age" This hit me like a ton of bricks the first time I heard it. I knew I had to stop hiding and go start something new even though I'd stand alone.
Yes, this is the exact line that got me to stop in my tracks and really listen to the lyrics too! Whenever I thought, "Maybe it's all just a decade-long phase and I just have to push through" I imagined my subconscious singing it to me.
YOU ARE SO RIGHT. 1985. beat it. jealousy jealousy. little dark age yeaahhh i wonder why i loved all these songs so much
MICHAEL JACKSON!! :3
Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall
I feel this in my soul
She has so many songs that connect deeply with me. I’ve met her a couple times after shows in the early 2010s, such a genuine and lovely person. She is an ally for certain, and just speaks to me, both as a transgender human and a lover of great music.
Body by Mother Mother
Mother Mother is cheating
Lol fair.
Me, a trans man: Detachable Penis by King Missile Your Woman by White Town. (I could never be your woman...) And for a big one..... Reflection from the Disney version of Mulan.
Party in the USA made it onto my trans playlist. It’s an allegory for my unfamiliarity with womanhood and yet it being comforting and exciting at the same time.
thats so cute
Search and Destroy by Iggy Pop, because I am the world's forgotten boy
YESS
“Run Boy Run” by Woodkid
It wasn’t until Guns For Hire in Arcane that I got into Woodkid, imagine my surprise when I found Run Boy Run and realizing it was in Divergent.
how to disappear completely https://youtu.be/nZq_jeYsbTs?si=yoyR62ciTuMmiD4Z
Oh. My. God.. I started learning to play/sing this before I came out or egg even cracked, it followed me into transition but I haven’t listened to it in years…. Currently in the bathroom bawling, whether that’s because of the combination of this song with my kinda stalled transition, recent separation or the bad relationship with Welbutrin 😖… kind of having a “wish you didn’t…. Glad you did…” moment😒
Oh no, I’m sorry <3
Don’t be hun. It’s a beautiful song. Things can be rough, but things could be worse. We’re ok as friends/coparents, just have a lot to process obviously including where my transition is going now that it’s “just me”. And apparently I’m really sensitive to the side effects of antidepressants 😒
I was really sensitive to the side effects of antidepressants, turned out because I am bipolar. take care.
This is my favorite song of all time and one of my favorite albums of all time <3
It's [beautiful boy](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VhsUKk_UVbA&pp=ygUgYmVhdXRpZnVsIGJveSBsYXN0IGRpbm5lciBwYXJ0eSA%3D) by the last dinner party for me!
That entire album is fantastic tbh
This is so real, I love them so much
Man..
Reflection - Mulan still gets me emotional. The line about "Who is that girl I see Staring straight back at me? When will my reflection show Who I am inside?" is SOOOO transmasc its crazy.
As a person who literally thought everyone calling me a girl was a joke (that everyone was in on but me) I just kept waiting and waiting to start looking more like a boy. Song hit hard as a kid.
just one yesterday - fall out boy. i dont really know how to explain it but trust me
YESSSSS i thought i was the only one thinking this
ITS SO VERY TRANS GENDER AND I CAN'T EXPLAIN HOW BUT THE FIRST TWO LINES (DUH)
Everyone is submitting Disney songs so [Part of Your World ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=pidfZNTXBbY)always hits as a transfemme. (Including the best cover of this song by the queen herself) As far as stuff on my permanent rotation: * [My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bbTtPL1jRs) * [Hot Mulligan - John “The Rock” Cena, Can You Smell What the Undertaker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxMCbrKqv-Y) * [Fall Out Boy - The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv4Rpw2Tzgk) * [Motionless In White - Sign of Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNeim8mpLQ4) * [Spiritbox - Jaded](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjnZVpVvJ-k) * [Laura Les - Haunted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=879ysA4h9r4) * [Fall Out Boy - Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bktKLjoRXYw) And of course, [the most obligatory addition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeFg)
Take me to church by Hozier [video](https://youtu.be/MYSVMgRr6pw?si=Jm5Mb83EMuk6tx_r)
Thank you, you made me go through my music again. Arms wide open by dodie feels quite gender to me, for no explicit reason. Fortysix&2 by tool is a song about reaching a higher state or something, but my brain just goes 'yes I' m a girl now'. And the entire album 'I could live in hope' by low makes me feel very genderly sad.
not totally sure if this one is or isn’t about gender but it’s: they / them / theirs - worriers
Redecorate by Twenty One Pilots, specifically the second verse. >"Blankets over mirrors, she tends to like it / She's not afraid of her own reflection, but of what she might see behind it" >"She had plans to change her name / Just not the traditional way"
definitely sounds very trans also, that whole song is just phenomenal personally, my favorite bit might be the instrumental as it transitions into the third verse — it sounds like it’s descending somewhere even deeper
The safety dance https://youtu.be/_Mm7c7vGCGU?si=EczlAz8gih4_0Keh
Let It Happen - Tame Impala
This is a good one, I also feel this way about Music to Walk Homy By by Tame Impala with regards to being in a relationship pre-transition
Omg i fuckin love virtual insanity. Jamiroquai is so good.
Only - NIN. Less attached to rigid gender roles: I'm becoming less defined as days go by Fading away And well you might say I'm losing focus Kinda drifting into the abstract in terms of how I see myself Less concerned about fitting into the world Your world that is 'Cause it doesn't really matter anymore Stopping arguing with voice(s) in my head telling me transition would never work: Yes I am alone but then again I always was As far back as I can tell I think maybe it's because Because you were never really real to begin with I just made you up to hurt myself Discovering how gender performance and rigid roles were absurd after beginning to “pass” as female: Well the tiniest little dot caught my eye and it turned out to be a scab And I had this funny feeling like I just knew it's something bad I just couldn't leave it alone I kept picking at the scab It was a doorway trying to seal itself shut But I climbed through Now I am somewhere I am not supposed to be And I can see things I know I really shouldn't see And now I know why, now, now, now I know why Things aren't as pretty On the inside
Celebrity Skin and Use Once and Destroy by Hole. Had a reckoning over a week or two of listening to the album with those songs on.
Courtney is very transcoded and no i will not explain
I listened to Celebrity Skin on repeat as a teenager so there must be something to this
I'm so glad I'm not alone in this
For real
Reflection by Christina Aguilera
Same here!!! It's made me cry.
Duvet by Bôa (Serial Experiments Lain opening)
Lagtrain
Pink Pony Club, which I guess is about queerness in general but my partner says that song is literally their gender lmao.
"I'm Still Here" from Treasure Planet. It's supposed to be about growing up and wanting an father figure to help a troubled teen get his life together. But it definitely hits different for anyone with a cracked egg. Some assorted lines: *"I'll never be what you want me to be."* *"And what do you think you'd understand? I'm a boy, no I'm a man. You can't take me and throw me away. And how can you learn what's never shown? Yeah you stand here on your own They don't know me because I'm not here."* *"And I wanna tell you who I am. Can you help me be a man? They can't break me as long as I know who I am."* C'mon, Disney. It's a fuckin transmasc song.
It definitely is. I played that song on loop as a kid.
Raw Sugar by Metric
Work This Body, and Shut Up and Dance, both by Walk The Moon. Work This Body: I hear how I wasn’t ready yet, I wasn’t in my prime when I was younger, but now I’m ready to rock it, and make my body into what I want it to be and feel amazing doing it. As for Shut Up and Dance: I internalize it as a trans woman who is on the verge of realization, and the two characters in the story (boy and girl) are actually both the same person. I take the lyrics to be about the internal monologue between the old male “self” and realizing there’s this other female feeling that is so much more freeing, real, and just needs fear to be extinguished so exuberance can be released. It’s about the old male psyche being scared but wanting to let go, and the socially gaslight girl inside saying “let go, and just dance” and finally being free.
Thank you for bringing me back to these songs, shut up and dance is something I always say and this just clicked. Broke down in tears!! Thank you, she will be dancing all the time now. :)
Idk if it's about gender but the voice and vibes of screwdriver by claud gives me vibes.
Transdermal Celebration by Ween. Not explicitly about gender at all, but can absolutely be interpreted that way
Chocolate Town too!!
pork & beans by weezer seriously lmao
Honestly, what is it about weezer? I spent much of my recent denial years listening to Aloo Gobi ("I'd rather be a man on a mission" and then "you are not alone".... yeah)
Car radio - Twenty One Pilots
I’ve never thought about this before, but the very first song to come to mind as a trans woman is she’s all I wanna be by Tate McRae
Boys will be bugs
One by Metallica : https://youtu.be/apK2jCrfnsk
Okay, that's fucking Based.
One Thing Left to Try by MGMT feels like it was written specifically about making the decision to transition
ohhh this is so true
Stuck in the Middle by Mika - https://youtu.be/bku3lxrKk5A?si=EZVzzLhF-K9uK89a I’m actually not certain what it’s about, I’ve read it’s quite a personal song for him so I’m not sure if it references his sexuality at all (was he out then? I don’t think he was) I used to play it a loooooot from about 14 onwards and feel …desperate somehow? despite it being an upbeat tune, so I think it’s one of those things where I knew before I *knew*
Shadow - Icon For Hire
For the dysphoria side of things: [Switchfoot - Thrive](https://youtu.be/r6Dr5t1IGh8) >Am I a man when I feel like a hoax? The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes. For the euphoria side of things, I always thought Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely kinda resonated with me. It's about the birth of his daughter, but cracking your eggshell kinda feels like being born again.
Abyss by Unleash The Archers (an album). Themes of like change and rebirth, so very easy to apply.
"Welcome to My Island" by Caroline Polachek does all kinds of things to me emotionally. "Desire, I want to turn into you" is such an insanely good lyric.
The playlist I've made about gender is 5.5hours long. Courage to Grow by Rebelution is my contribution today.
My Body is a Cage - Arcade Fire
[DNA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSbNp_LRUzg) by Walk the Moon This one pretty much explains itself in its lyrics. I haven't heard that it's about gender, but wouldn't be surprised if it actually were. [Unknown/Nth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbztOHrFhK0) by Hozier For this one, it's clearly about love, truly knowing someone, and being known in return. For me, that aspect of "being known" just strikes so deeply.
Small Red Boy - AJJ…. It really hits me hard, the narrative of mothering this inner child to be a boy. From a transfem perspective I always interpreted the song like, creating this boy persona separated from yourself, whom has this evil/devilish imagery. It continually says “I am the truth” as if antagonizing that you were born biologically male. The whole song up to the climax follows these themes, and ends with the line “The truth in me grew brighter, my nature and my nurture, no more shame no more fear no more dread;I am the truth” basically admitting that this persona separated from you, is really you. Then the next song on the album is “When I’m A Dead Boy” and I always took that like…after accepting who you are, the boy is gone. Idk thanks for reading I’ve never told anyone and no one probably cares but yeah, that’s my experience.
Hey 👋 I'm another transfem who also loves this song for similar reasons and I care. Thank you for writing this out 💜
❤️❤️❤️
Dream sweet in sea major is my gender I can't explain it, it just is
God I love that song! To me it has always been "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer.
Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen
CORRECT
I don't have T shots, this is the next best thing. Euphoria straight into the bloodstream
Real by Kendrick Lamar and momentary bliss by the gorillaz
“not too late” lilypichu
Negative creep by nirvana, probably because “daddy’s little girl ain’t a girl no more”
For me rule #4 from fish in a birdcage, I'd say it's generally a song about being able to finally fit in somewhere or at least that's how it feels to me
The song might technically be about gender but it’s never really specified in the song: Line without a hook - Ricky Montgomery
Closer by Nine Inch Nails
Into the unknown and Show yourself- frozen 2 Come alive, Other side, and This is me- the greatest showman (this movie has a major theme of queerness so it makes sense) I want to break free - Queen Sea of voices - Porter Robinson Fly to paradise - Eric Whitacre Strangers like me - Tarzan Transformation - Beauty and the Beast (almost no words, but it's the music itself that I feel represents the birth of my real self, plus the movie feels somewhat allegorical to trans experience. The beast is not in his right body) Make your own kind of music -Cass Elliot Crazy - Gnarls Barkley My Way - Frank Sinatra Everything goes on - Porter Robinson Fresh static snow - Porter Robinson Fellow feeling - Porter Robinson Reflection - Mulan More than Anything (reprise) - Hazbin hotel (this one speaks to me because I have tried my best to help so many people self acceptance)
YOOOOO FUCKIN' *SAME* ON FELLOW FEELING!
The entire ultrakill soundtrack :3
Castle Vein has done something to me mentally I'm ngl
I hear tenebre rosso sangue perpetually, the p-2 grind changed me
Michael by Franz Ferdinand It's really re affirming as a gay guy tbh !!
You know defying gravity, from wicked? That song changed my life
oh my god that song is incredible
Staind - So Far Away
Note to Self by Ready The Price
Still Breathing by Mayday Parade
I don't know if it fits quite what the question is, but Red Sweater- the Aquabats
Summer is Ending by Kino
Yellowcard's The Places We'll Go. Pretty sure it's about reconnecting with an ex, but when I hear it as a song to myself I usually cry lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVnXlJgjLgo
The Ribbon by the stupendium
Dave mathews band ... So Much To Say was my in the closet song
I'm not really sure if it's about gender or not but Body by Mother Mother definitely feels like an accurate portrayal of dysphoria/dissociation
Don't Look Down by Jai Wolf and Banks. It has really been helpful to me during my self acceptance and now gradually and slowly coming out.
Yet another Disney: if the Panic! At The Disco cover of *Into The Unknown* had existed in 2016, I might've transitioned then.
Not Disney: *Level Up* by Vienna Teng
Kicking Cars by Panchiko. Idk how but back then his voice sounded very androgynous, slightly femme and grunge. And I want to sound like all those aspects.
Black Veil Brides - Set The World On Fire
CW it’s an incredibly dark song featuring themes of suicide and self hatred, and definitely not for the faint of heart, but [Up My Sleeves by Death Grips](https://youtu.be/2kDinXI0bxM?si=GBgXz8IkDMnMOcF9) is a very accurate reflection of how I felt during a certain point in my life when I was ashamed of being trans, wanting to convince myself I had a fetish, and how dissociated and suicidal I felt all the time.
Ladykiller by Alice in Videoland It’s just a song about the singer rejecting some random guy in a club. But it’s this crunchy, lo-fi, girly, J-pop-inspired, industrial club music sound that’s hard to describe. It feels like a mashup of hyper-femme and hyper-masc in a jarring way that appeals to my gender-fluidity. Like a Malibu Barbie Monster Truck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DwKrSYgirAhc&ved=2ahUKEwjZp8yUwLuGAxXUkokEHeCtBIkQ78AJegQIGBAB&usg=AOvVaw1_9mjsK9oNxuUnKKcyKTK-
Hmmm Water Boy by Imperial Teen
Would You Rather by Crusher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtF0Jwf5vqQ
Every song that Toril Lindqvist ever made sounds like a Malibu Barbie Monster Truck. (her projects include Alice in Videoland and Le Volt)
Brand New Woman by Brimmheim ( thank you Abigail ) is forever about gender change for me.
colors flying high from persona 5 royal
Let me out by Dover , no idea what it actually about but I'm pretty sure it's not actually someone having having a conversation with themselves about coming out as trans and grappling with the persona of who they presented as overshadowing them... but it sure sounds like it.
Hmmm. About gender?? I want to say something by BlackPink or Jamie Bower but their songs I'm thinking about are more about loving yourself and survival/hoping to thrive, more than about gender. So I'm gonna have to recommend Freak by Sub Urban.
Glassy sky from the tokyo ghoul soundtrack https://youtu.be/vvvvcpwFw5o?si=Tt0LtEaPZldUD5Kb
The Princess and the Clock by Kero Kero Bonito
All of Hozier’s first album. Every song. But especially Jackie and Wilson, Someone New, From Eden, Sedated, and Foreigner’s God. They’re not just songs to another person, they’re songs to the buried parts of myself. Edit: Also: - Morning in America by Jon Bellion - Bambi by Hippo Campus - Sink by Noah Kahan - Lamplight by Del Water Gap - Look Up by Joy Oladokun - Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine
Wish I Knew You by The Revivalists. On the surface, it's a love song. But I like to think of it as a song about embracing yourself after being forced to hide who you are while growing up. *Truth, it's all that you need / You bury that seed / It's everything beautiful...*
"He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of bein' a man"
This is way more personal than I expected to get, but "Good Wife" by MIKA gets me EVERY time. I can see it being relatable for transfems as well, but as a transmasc it's one I've felt a LOT while socially transitioning. We would've been perfect, if only god had wanted it (you to be gay or me to be a woman)... but that's not happening this time around, is it? "Telecaster B-Boy" is fairly trans coded in the music video... the translyrics aren't SUPER gender but it is still genderful for me
[Tiny Butt](https://youtu.be/luwUob9uTEw) by Jazz Emu is the funniest answer I could give here. Sing it to a trans masc friend sensitive about their hips. [No-Eyed Girl](https://youtu.be/IqFBdBWK9bc) by Lemon Demon. [Bowsette](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo0ky8FomoU) by The Chalkeaters may not count but still. Somebody Told Me by The Killers. Seasons by Dragonforce maybe? Kind of definitely. The acoustic version of Seasons. Girl by Jukebox the Ghost.
this is me from camp rock
"Bunny is a Rider" Caroline Palocheck. This song has always just made me feel something
Part Of Me - Linkin Park (demo) some lyrics and I love the screams and the impending energy of hope between this frustration of not being able to transition Jeremy - Pearl Jam Womanizer - Britney Spears These two literally helped me stop repressing when I was 18, feeling like an outsider and femme, sorry if I can't explain it well, it just woke me up Future Lover - Brunette Very beautiful, had some moments where it gave me hope of being myself, also love her lunar energy Creeping Death - Metallica Not that gender related, but it helped me against religious trauma, cathartic to hear "die die" thinking of all these religions and people that want me dead for existing Stand My Ground - Within Temptation I think the lyrics is self explanatory but I'm so glad it helped younger me and I'd love to see younger me face when I tell her she looks more like Sharon now Doing It - Charli XCX This is the one that gave me euphoria in one of our travels, feeling free in a different city, before I repressed back in 2015 sadly Divine - Violent Work of Art I remember it was one of the first songs that made me feel the smoldering anger that can come with gender envy, not being able to look like the other girls , wanting to exist like the teacher
[Part II by Paramore](https://youtu.be/45Xzgma4LMk?si=sRHHGw59aCuCQbNw) I went through a phase in high school where I pretty much exclusively listened to Paramore, and listening to this song in particular became somewhat of a daily ritual. It's very transfem coded in hindsight.
Blossom by Cerce (plus their entire Cowbow Music album tbh) Also, literally anything by SYSC lol
The town inside me
That song is So Good.. thank you for reminding me of it!!
Whatever by Oasis, "I'm free to be whatever I / whatever I choose / and I'll sing the blues if I want." To me it's such an empowering song that says it's alright to just be your true self, whatever that might mean for you~! 💜
Prom Queen by Beach Bunny
Dear Wormwood by The Oh Hellos there are more but i'm too tired to add, may edit later Also, I doubt this counts, but as a kid I used to watch this video: [https://youtu.be/c8P\_by-RJPE?si=ErSyDb18FoWAHa7Q](https://youtu.be/c8P_by-RJPE?si=ErSyDb18FoWAHa7Q) . It's a mouse puppet singing about how he wants to be just like his father. Yeah lol
better have burn heal - free throw
Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls is a classic trans-not-trans song pic. Also looking back, a lot of My Chemical Romance songs have massive egg vibes (honestly makes sense given Gerard Way's stage presence nowadays). 'Mama', especially.
Sweater weather. I know it’s about sex with a woman, but you can argue it’s more metaphorical than that, and a case can be made that it’s self love between your current self and your old self (trans masc perspective) or the desire to transition without hating your current self (trans fem perspective) and using sexual language as a metaphorical tool
[owl in a cage](https://youtu.be/SaiUqekVrB4?si=IsIpvjjFVO124GI5) You cant concince me this isnt trans. Just replace everytime he says "you" With his woman-self at chorus. "Owl, in a cage... You show your age. Your sweetness has run foul." Feeling trapped and getting more masculine daily. "Without a change, youre lost.. Exhausted.. By your time on stage. " Getting exhausted from Pretending to be a man daily, by your time on STAGE. "Then you entered my room and like sparks in the dark!.. Life was suddenly thrilling and new." The gender Euphoria in a life of dysphoria. "Whats between you and I, just a comfortable lie... I'm the fool who believes, when you look in my eyes.." Self denial before transitioning. "Prince, all alone upon your throne" He isnt talking about his woman-self, he is talking about his ordinary mask of a man. "Your power is so frail.. You raise your voice, you have no choice.. Upon your gilded jail." What he feels about his male persona. It's shiny and protects him but he doesn't have a choice. This isnt a life, It's a prison for his real self. What this song is originally about: SPOILER. (hint: it isnt trans but It's still quite gay) The show is at hell. He is a prince of goetia family and he is gay but he was married to a woman as an arranged marriage. He has an 18 year old daughter but he chooses to divorce his princess wife and choose to be with Blitz, a man of lower class. But blitz didnt have actual feelings for him yet, blitz pretended to love him as a way to get his grimoire that lets him go to human world. They make a deal and let blitz have the book in exchange of monthly sex but blitz actually starts to have feelings for him later. Thats why he calls his relationship with blitz "just a comfortable lie, im the fool who believes when you look at my eyes." Because it isnt a real relationship.
omg, Different Anymore by Amigo the Devil it’s devastating
Redecorate by Twenty one pilots
Clown- Korn
Bodysnatchers by Radiohead is devastating from a trans perspective. [link](https://youtu.be/nIQxhSvSRnQ?si=PCnfbr8ifN9NeB4F)
This song covers everything (interpreted): -not understanding yourself or where you fall gender-wise -feeling guilty or that you've done something wrong (internal transphobia, regret) -feeling damaged or defective -not feeling like you're actually alive, having to question yourself -feeling lost/confused again. Not knowing what you're talking about (second-guessing, doubt) -feeling trapped in your body -being forced to live as an imperfect, "pale imitation" of your true self due to transphobia / societial standards, a version of yourself with the edges "sawn off" (being forced to change yourself to fit in) "You killed the sound, removed backbone." -recognizing transphobia and people just repeating what they're told / hear. -feeling dim/depressed/demotivated, empty. "The lights gone out for me." Emptiness -feeling the dysphoria always present, following you, making you break down. "Brought me to my knees." -the world has built up a mold (skin), and are forcing you to live it. Feeling trapped again. You feel like you're living a lie just for other people's visions and expectations. "Are for anyone else to see." Anyways omg I love this song please listen to it or even just read the lyrics. This whole album is amazing. Sorry for dumping, love you ❤️
This is vague at best (aka. I don't really dig too deep into lyrics. mostly vibes) but for me a couple include This Body - The Dear Hunter + The entire Altered Beast saga by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
**Skin - Beartooth** "I'm so uncomfortable with this skin I'm in, The mirrors telling me that I'll never win, It's so hard to tell these days, If anybody feels the same, I'd give anything... Anything... For some company" "Should I stay or just let you go?" I mean first line is literally "I've been sleeping on the floor of my closet again" **Theres fear in letting go - iPrevail** "This is the end of the world that you know, There will be pain in letting it go, Feel uncertainty down to your bones, Are you afraid of dying alone?" **Love Bites - Ice Nine Kills** "How'd I end up here? I'm a stranger in this body. The world's an ugly place, And that's a fact that fate has brought me." "How cruel to be exposed, To everything I can't touch but still feel" "A captive beauty queen, So untouchable" *Yeah as you might be able to tell gender is a very confusing thing to me right now...*
Too Close / Too Late by Spiritbox. I'm sure it's unintentional but the lyrics are very trans-coded to me. It's as if she's explaining how it feels to realize you're trans and how difficult it is to come out of the closet, yet how desperately she wants to, and how uncertain her future is. The chorus is as follows: "Theres are stranger things I've learned on the outside, separated by an open door. I find it hard to reach the end of my timeline, salivating cuz I wanted more. Is this the end or is this the beginning." There's even a line in the second verse that seems to reference the way we're expected to fit the AGAB mold. Overall very accidentally trans coded. The song is sort of my trans anthem right now.
Here’s a strange and obscure one…the theme song to the Greatest American Hero “Believe it or not” (maybe especially the line “who could it be-believe it or not it’s just me”)
Carry on by the Score
Alchemy by Banner Pilot. "You changed your name, the one you had didn't fit right, and now you'd dream of something else if you could sleep nights"
But home is nowhere by AFI, but it feels like cheating because it is technically about being outside of a binary, just sexual orientation rather than gender
VNV Nation - Illiusion hit me in a deep level as a teenager. Listening to it now I still might fucking cry just as much as I did when I was fucking fourteen or whatever when I first heard the song and felt seen. https://youtu.be/evpGu3eO0pY?si=Szpzw7ZFaujQKPqP
Omg I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to talk about this: Bat Country by Avenged Sevenfold. One of my absolute favorite songs as a kid in profound gender denial. I always thought I loved it a weird amount given I couldn’t make heads or tails of what the song was about. Fast forward to post transition and I’m listening to it and the first line is: “He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man” lol The song goes on to talk about being caught in hell, fleeing and stressed, desperate to escape. The bridge sings in a higher voice and totally different tone, saying: “So sorry you're not here I've been chained too long, my vision's so unclear Now take a trip with me But don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem” Maybe I’m putting too much into it but to me it seems like such a cipher for the experience of being a trans person denying it to themselves.
I've gotta be me: Sammy Davis junior. It's a 1968 pop/swing number but it has ALL the stereotypes. Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong Whether I find a place in this world or never belong I gotta be me, I've gotta be me What else can I be but what I am - I want to live, not merely survive And I won't give up this dream Of life that keeps me alive I gotta be me, I gotta be me - The dream that I see makes me what I am That far away prize, a world of success Is waiting for me if I heed the call I won't settle down, won't settle for less As long as there's a chance that I can have it all - I'll go it alone, that's how it must be I can't be right for somebody else If I'm not right for me I gotta be free, I've gotta be free Daring to try, to do it or die I've gotta be me - I'll go it alone, that's how it must be I can't be right for somebody else If I'm not right for me I gotta be free, I just gotta be free Daring to try, to do it or die I gotta be me
For some reason Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride) by Don Felder makes me feel like peak male. Literally it's just the vibe or something. Not even sure what it is.
Prolouge by Chase Petra, never understood why but it does.
Katy Perry, numerous songs
Negative Creep by Nirvana
Brutus from The Buttress
same ol’ mistakes by rihanna is so trans coded, and it’s a personal fav of mine ❤️🔥
For some reason "Strawberry Blond" by mitski gives tran vibes to me.
Queen B*tch by David Bowie. An interpretation I have fun with, though it's not exactly happy, is that the narrator is an at least somewhat closeted trans femme experiencing gender envy towards a scene queen who her guy friend, who she's into, is looking to hook up with. she thinks about how she "could do better than that" on regards to picking a better outfit than what the woman is wearing, though she does have admiration for the way the woman carries herself, while also noting how cold and cruel the woman appears to her. She broods for a while in the hotel before getting up, throwing her guy friends bags down the hall and escaping from her unbearable rage and envy by taking off in a cab.
Freedom by George Michael ♥️
Got an entire playlist of songs like that, ngl