Lotus Kid

Casques ヘルメット

queen of getting her hopes up

I was talking with a friend (also a lesbian) earlier about how she played the song for her mom and sister (not queer), and they both reacted with confusion, and while my friend thought the song was so pure and wholesome, her family thought it was weird.

“You don’t get it because you’re not gay,” my friend said.

“You’re right,” her mom and sister replied.

That got me thinking. I also played it for my mom, who isn’t homophobic in the least bit, and she responded somewhat prudishly. Sort of flinching away at the “explicit” lyrics. Mind you, “explicit” her refers to anything Alison mentions anything to do with Joan. (We don’t have time to unpack all that.) My mom only heard the sexual parts of the song and found them raw. Meanwhile, my friend and I see the song as sexual AND beautiful. Really, for us, in this context, those two things are synonymous. What’s up with that?

To me, “Changing My Major” is sensual. It’s sweet and precious and awe-inspiring and forbidden. But from the outside it just sounds like a song about sex. In my opinion, only someone who has been shamed - implicitly or explicitly - can fully understand the magnitude of what occurs in the song. It’s a girl finally feeling free and accepted enough to explore something everyone tells her she shouldn’t. And that’s beautiful.